Re: dinosaur inspiration

[Nick Longrich <longrich@phoenix.Princeton.EDU>]

On Tue, 17 Sep 1996, Rob Meyerson wrote:

> I concentrate on the theropods for one reason, if we can determine the
> metabolism of the predators, we can safely assume a similar metabolism
> for the herbivores.

        Komodo dragons, pit vipers and crocodiles (both modern and the 
Eocene Pristichampsus) come to mind as exceptions, along with the Great 
White and bird-eating spiders- for that matter, presumably any spiders 
would have metabolisms quite different from partially-endothermic 
flying insects they capture. Granted, these are all generally (maybe with 
the exception of the Great White) ambush, rather than pursuit, predators, 
but there are also endothermic ambush predators (many cats).