DEATH IN THE DUNES

[franczak@ntplx.net (Brian Franczak)]

Not that I question David Loope's research about the burial method of the
Gobi dinosaurs (EARTH/June 1998), but there is one thing about his
conclusions that has been bothering me: If "...a heavy rainfall can quickly
saturate the surface, causing a watery avalanche of sand similar to a mud
slide..." as described in the article, then what kept multiple oviraptors
sitting on their nests? Wouldn't they simply have been washed away? I can't
really imagine _Oviraptor_ was a particularly heavy animal, and the sandy
substrate in which it was nesting would not seem to have allowed a firm
grip on the ground. Am I missing something here?


Brian (franczak@ntplx.net)
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Launchpad/2045/