Re: no egg-gnawing mammals

[John Bois <jbois@umd5.umd.edu>]

On Mon, 13 May 1996 martin@hpentccl.grenoble.hp.com wrote:

> Rats, mice, ferrets, and other small mammals cannot even gnaw through
> eggs the size of a chickens', because they do not have a large enough
> gape to get a "bite". They can only hope to break them in their
> attempts to cache them.

No.  They break them because it is easier than gnawing an egg through.  
If they couldn't break it, I bet they could gnaw it.  Why, even I can 
gnaw at an egg the size of a house--I tried it on my house.  
I am buying a mouse tomorrow.  All it gets are eggs.  I'll let you know 
how the mouse gets by.

> Now, extrapolate that to cat-size (max) mammals before K/T with eggs
> bigger than an ostrich's (and with a thicker shell) and I think you
> will concede that the problem still exists..........

Rejected.  See egg-analogue argument, viz gnawing my house.

> Any animal creating burrows under dinosaur nests, in sufficient
> numbers to threaten nest viability (ie a veritable rabbit warren),
> would risk having a large foot (at least) coming in through the
> roof. Particularly in an area habitually and repeatedly (seasonally?)
> used for nesting. The energy in digging tunnels is a sufficiently
> large investment that animals tend to use the same tunnels for
> generations (fox, badger, rabbit, mole, warthogs, rats) ie the tunnels
> need to be in a stable, hidden environment.  Having 20 + ton dinosaurs
> romping all over them doesn't fit, somehow.

Bingo.  The tunnels are expensive.  But they are SECURE and as such, are 
worth the price.  But therer are no rules as to where they should 
dig them.  How about half way between two colonies, i.e., a short 
nightly jaunt to the dinosaur egg patch.