RE: Suchomimus

[Martin Human <cockatoo@csi.com>]

Hi, the camera images are very good....

A few  things come to my mind:

a) Its body anatomy seems at odds with its proposed diet; if it is a fish 
eater (which from the jaw looks reasonable) why does it (the model) look 
like it is built to run fast? If the suggested technique is fishing like 
herons, this involves lots of standing around waiting, for which you don't 
need to move fast.
b) It does not look aquatic at all. Are we being misled by the crocodilian 
from of the jaws? Could the large claws and long snout be adapted for some 
kind of "probing" and digging (don't know correct term) feeding pattern? I 
am thinking of:
i) digging animals out of burrows (the mass of teeth at the front look 
ideal for "snatching" a prey, ready for dragging out; this does not 
preclude "burrowing" fish
ii) probing for crustaceans around rocks etc, breaking them apart with 
claws
iii) (as suggested already) opening up carcases and probing for the 
internal organs (dominant lions for example, feed on the internal organs 
and leave the carcass for the less dominant, I believe)
iv) breaking open nests and snatching eggs and hatchlings

Fascinating

martin