Re: Theropod eating and attacking

[jamolnar@juno.com]

On Fri, 29 Aug 1997 03:31:23 -0400 (EDT) NEPharris@aol.com writes:
>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?

Many herbivores chew on bones and antlers that they find of dead animals
out in the wild.  Any skulls, turtles shells, bones left out in the wild
have plenty of chew marks on them from this gnawing, especially from
rodents.  Herbivores also can get calcium from the soil, or limestone. 
There is a photograph documenting a deer eating the chicks of a
ground-nesting bird, presumably for the calcium in their bones!

Judy Molnar
Education Associate, Virginia Living Museum
vlmed@juno.com
jamolnar@juno.com
All questions are valid; all answers are tentative.