Re: Herbivore protection

[John Bois <jbois@umd5.umd.edu>]

On Thu, 5 Jun 1997, Jonathon Woolf wrote:
> Could increasing size/complexity, and the matching increase in time
> required _in vitro_, be a problem?  There certainly appears to be an
> inverse relationship in mammals between size of adult and number of
> offspring.  

I don't see it.  Or, rather, I see too many exceptions.  Pigs are
offspring/reproductive bout than small primates.  Wolves can
have _13_ pups while the tiny mole has max of 5.  
Cougars can have five wheras the 5 and a half inch Red bat has 4.  There
is no simple scaling relationship here.  I maintain this number is
determined more by each species' complex ecological relationships.