Hatchling survival?

[tlford@ix.netcom.com (Tracy Ford)]

You wrote: 
>> 
> But dinosaurs are KNOWN for their remarkably large clutches.  A single
> non-flying bird might lay 3-5 eggs in one clutch and there are numerous
> examples of dinosaurs (and crocs AND sea turtles) easily outnumbering
> these counts.  We've argued about the fact that the higher numbers in
> each clutch give more of the fragile hatchlings a chance to survive to
> adulthood. >>

I've thought about this and have asked a few paleontologist about that 
very subject. What I've come to is this, the reason why there are large 
egg clutchs isn't due to the fragility of the hatchlings, but is due to 
how many are picked off by predators, and in a smaller part, due to the 
the enviroment. If they weren't picked off by predators, they had a 
much better chance of living.

Sea turtles are eaten by birds, reptiles, fish...

Tracy