Re: SAGAN..

[Dave Hardenbrook <DAVEH47@delphi.com>]

D.W.Naish <dwn194@soton.ac.uk> writes:
>Carl Sagan is full of crap when it comes to his writings on ancient life and 
>its
>'place in the cosmos'. Read, for example, the junk about humanoid dinosaurs in
>whichever book has the word 'Eden' in the title, likewise the mention of
>dromaeosaurids as 'smart reptiles' in 'Darwin's Universe'. The illustration
>shows a kind of scaly frog making a rock garden...

For the record, _Darwin's Universe_ was written by Charles R. Pellegrino.

One thing I don't like that C.S. brings up in _Dragons of Eden_ (and again
in _Cosmos_) is the brain-evolved-from-inside-out theory...The "reptile brain"-
"mammal brain"-"primate brain" scheme ignores many things, including that fact 
that many "reptiles" (birds, Maiasaura, etc.) cared for their young and 
engage in some level of "thinking"; and also, don't even amphibians have *all*
of the brain parts--R-complex, limbic system, and cerebal cortex, and so 
did not evolve inside-to-out?

Comments anyone?

                          -- Dave

(P.S. I don't agree with those who seem to think that this list is going to
 the cynodonts :) )