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>>I argue placental mammals are better at finding ground nests than
anything
that evolved before them. If true, this would enable many more experiments in secondary flightlessness in the Triassic than today! Does anyone know of any work that addresses this issue. I do have two pieces of info: varanids cannot find all eggs in a megapodes nest, whereas foxes can; and a cite which I can't get at my library: Clark, R.G., and BK Wobeser. 1997 Making sense of scents: effects of odour on survival of simulated duck nests. J. Avian Biol. 28:31-37. I would appreciate any illumination on this issue. John Bois.>>> While I will not argue canid "intellectual" superiority over
Savannah monitors, I would add that Savannah monitors are much more likely to
survive periods of low-food availability. On a side note, I had a savannah
monitor for years, and though the first time he saw an egg, he "knew"
exactly what to do, he displayed more interest in live prey.
David Lessin
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