Re:Theropod eating and attacking

[Dann Pigdon <dannj@alphalink.com.au>]

NJPharris@aol.com wrote:
> 
> In a message dated 97-08-28 10:04:31 EDT, zenlizard@juno.com (Sam j hogan)
> writes:
> 
> > We can
> >  probably say that female dinosaurs needed more calcium during egg
> >  development and deposition-there is no known egg-laying animal which
> >  doesn't.
> 
> Predators can, if their digestive systems are strong enough, get calcium from
> the hard bits of their prey; but where exactly do herbivores get their
> calcium?
> 
> Inquisitively,
> NP

Elephants will chew the bones of their own dead for the calcium.
I'm sure there are many herbivore species that would chew or
even ingest bones. Indeed, there was once a species of deer living
in islands in the Mediterranean that were reduced to eating baby
ground birds right out of their nests due to the poor dietry nature
of the island habitat. Many plants are also quite high in calcium,
although I doubt there is any type of vegetation that compares to
chewing on a bone. Could herbivorous dinosaurs have eaten the newly
hatched egg shells of their young? Birds can take the egg shell
and fly it a sufficient distance to prevent predators from being
attracted by the smell. Perhaps dinosaurs ate their egg remains,
just as mammalian herbivores will eat the afterbirth. It would certainly
give them a "quick fix" of calcium, expecially if they had to
neglect their own feeding to protect the nest.
        As usual, just throwing around some ideas and seeing who
bites...
-- 
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        Dann Pigdon
        Melbourne, Australia
        http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/4459/

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