Re: Cursorial adaptations (was T.rex and elephants)

[Dinogeorge@aol.com]

In a message dated 97-10-05 07:09:48 EDT, jwoolf@erinet.com writes:

<< So maybe we could reasonably envision a scenario something like this:
 Short-frills spar with horns at mating time -- an active method of
 settling conflicts.  Because of the potential for serious injury to both
 parties, this isn't a very good method of settling disputes.  So, over
 time the long-frills develop so that the active conflict can be replaced
 by less direct passive conflicts of displays.  Whoever has the most
 impressive display wins.  Only in two very well matched individuals
 would the old method of active combat come into play. >>

Except that frills evolved >before< horns, so the displaying occurred even
when there weren't any horns. This suggests that the horns evolved to settle
disputes when the frill displays weren't sufficient...