Size of clutches

[sj@io.com (Steve Jackson)]

This is in regard to the discussion of dinosaur clutch size, or "How
could that little dinosaur lay all those eggs?"

I'm looking at my local Audobon Society newsletter. There's a
discussion of shore birds which lay huge eggs: "a typical four-egg
clutch totals more than half the female's lean body weight." The only
bird specifically named is the "Red Knot." The article also mentions
that some species lay two or more clutches relatively close together,
so that "Potentially, in less than two weeks one of these females
could produce enough eggs to outweigh both parents combined."

So, if you're working on dinosaur egg-laying behavior, you might want
to look into modern shore birds before making any assumptions about
what would have been "impossible" for a single female to accomplish.

 Steve Jackson - yes, of SJ Games - yes, we won the Secret Service case
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