Re: Theropod eating and attacking

[Rich Travsky <rtravsky@UWYO.EDU>]

On Tue, 26 Aug 1997, Dann Pigdon wrote:
> jamolnar@juno.com wrote:
> > [...]
> > Owl pellets fossilize? Really? Cool!  If so, that's a good point.  But
> > maybe dino pellets were not recognized as pellets and mistaken for
> > coprolites?  Or perhaps there is a preservational bias against dinosaur
> > pellets?
> There is another possiblity. Many modern birds of prey tease their
> own pellets apart for nest lining. Perhaps small dinosaurs also
> did the same. Pellets in general tend to be fairly fragile things,
> and there are all manner of insects and the like that just love
> to feast on them while they are still fresh. I would expect
> fossilized examples to be quite rare, and for that rarity to
> increase exponentially the further back you go.

Insects et al are also fond of fresh feces. Coprolites and pellets 
would share many of the same hazards, yet we have known coprolites
and no known pellets. Hmmm.

+----------+    Rich Travsky   RTRAVSKY @ UWYO . EDU
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