Re: Dinosaur Genera List corrections #101

[Jonkeria@aol.com]

In a message dated 12/19/98 3:01:31 AM Eastern Standard Time,
Dinogeorge@AOL.COM writes:

<< " 'A lover of carrion, Variraptor, which weighed around (110 lbs.) and was 
 around (9 feet) tall, was also a predator,' said Le Loeuff. 'It 
 caught its prey, generally lizards, birds, small mammals or baby 
 dinosaurs of other species, with its powerful forearms and tore them 
 apart with one of the claws in its feet.' >>

Seeing as even Dinogeorge hasn't seen the actual paper yet, I doubt that there
are many listmembers who have (Tracy?), but nonetheless, does anyone know why
Le Loeuff & Buffetaut have so strongly pegged Variraptor's scavenging nature,
even ahead of its role as a dromaeosaurid predator (noting that I realize that
they do not believe it to have been an obligate scavenger)? Did they find its
teeth imbedded ina sauropod twenty times its size which also had giant
carnosaur tooth marks on the bones, or what? :-)

Sincerely,
Christian Kammerer