Re: gender

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

Dale wrote:
> 
> I believe I saw on the post, on a description of "SUE" that there
> was a T Rex tooth stuck in one of the ribs, if this so can we
> hypothesize that SUE was a male?
>                                    Earl Wood
>                                    frog@cncnet.com

        Nature is full of female-dominated societies. Hyaena females
have so much testosterone that they actually have penis-like
extensions. Early animal behaviouralists thought that all hyaenas
were male for a while!
        In many birds the female is the larger, expecially in
raptors. It is thought that female tyrannosaurs may have similarly
been larger than males (by analogy with modern predatory birds),
although I don't know what evidence there is. Apparently it is
possible to tell the gender of some dinos by looking at the first
few caudal vertebrae. In crocs the muscles that anchor and control
the penis are attached to these vertebrae, making them distinct
from the rest of the tail, and distinct from the caudals of female
crocs. It would be interesting to study the first few caudals of
tyrannosaurs to see whether such sexual dimorphism is present
(has anyone ever done this?).
-- 
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        Dann Pigdon
        Melbourne, Australia

        Dinosaur Reconstructions:
        http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/4459/
        Australian Dinosaurs:
        http://www.alphalink.com.au/~dannj
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