Ceratopsian frill size (was Re: DINOSAUR digest 71)

[Jeffrey Martz <martz@holly.ColoState.EDU>]

Martin Human wrote:

> I asked a long time ago whether frill size could be correlated to
> major predator jaw gape, and the reply was along the lines of
> "unlikely, as other small-frilled ceratopsians were
> co-existant". However, I don't think the reply took into account:

     What exactly are you suggesting, that ceratopsian frills were sized 
to fit perfectly into a tyrannosaur's mouth?  Is the frill the part of 
the body that a tyrannosaur will find the most attractive to chomp into?  
If you are saying that it is, and that the frill is big in some way to 
give it a mouthful or something, we are still talking about some serious 
trauma being inflicted on the jaw closing muscles attached to the frill.  
I don't see how big or small frill size would be a selective advantage as 
far as predators are concerned.  There are meatier and more crippling 
body parts to attack.
    Thoroughly off the subject, does Hoyle's Pangenesis theory say what 
conditions on this comet are so much more spiffy to the development of 
life then conditions on ancient earth, or is he just needlessly passing the 
buck (changing the question from "how could life have spontaneously 
developed on earth" to "how could life have spontaneously developed on a 
comet")? 

LN Jeff
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