Re: Mammal competency.

[Dalmiro <dalmiro@mesopy.obspm.fr>]

John Bois wrote:

[lots of perhaps and maybes sniped]

> DALMIRO: "(Many dinosaur eggs have been found intact, therefore
> dinosaur eggs must not have been preyed on significantly.)"
> 
>      This is the same as claiming: "If dinosaurs existed,
> significant dinosaur egg predation could not have."  Someone ask
> the Nene if this logic follows.

What I meant was this: we have found large collections of intact eggs,
the eggshell fragments we find show no signs of predation.  If
predation was so intense as you say we should find traces of it in
every nest, so we can assume that the mega egg predation hadn't
started yet.  What I gave was a valid objection and I resent your
observation, particularly because you disconnect it from the point I
was trying to make.  You haven't shown the flaw in my main argument:
any radical change in egg-eating habits would have to develop almost
simultaneously in continents that were separated by then. By the way,
were the words quoted the ones I've used? (Even if the meaning is the
same NEVER change a quote, people tend to react badly to it).  

>      I cannot win if this nonsensical line of argument is
> supported.  Yet the _non sequitur_ is praised by...
> 
> STEVEN S. LAZARUS: "Right on!"

I advise you more caution when quoting, I believe STEVEN S. LAZARUS
was "praising" all my objection: intact eggs and isolation, and not
only the "nonsensical" argument you talk about.

You cannot "win" if you don't show evidence on egg predation, you must
support your claims with data. This is sort of a scientific forum and
any claims and attacks on other people points of view should be backed
up with references or with work you have done on the subject. If you
want something more serious than an informal discussion you should
show us some evidence, a nest with visible signs of predation,
mammalian toothmarks on eggshells, identify the egg predators and show
how they could drive dinos into extinction without being much affected
themselves in the process. Saying it was a short event that lasted
only 50000 years and left no fossil marks leaves your theory
untestable, it may be true but we will never know.

best wishes

D. Maia

(I will use this post to make a quick presentation:
Dalmiro Jorge Filipe Maia
28 years old, Portuguese
Majored in Physics, Masters Degree in Nuclear Physics/Astrophysics,
now in Paris, France, preparing my Phd thesis on electron beam
injection from the solar corona into the interplanetary medium, using
Ulysses, Soho, Yohkoh and the Nancay radioheliograph data.)