Re: Gingko berries as evidence of dino sense of smell?

[Betty Cunningham <bettyc@flyinggoat.com>]

You might hate the smell of the gingko but the chinese regard ginko
berries as a delicacy.  

Similarlily, you might regard a spice that smells like dog p** as rather
abhorrent but the indians and chinese (and I think arabs) cook with
Asfoetida, also known collequailly as 'Devil's Dung' and 'Food of the
Gods'.  They think it's nummy (I've heard they regard it along the same
lines that westerners regard garlic). 

Myself, I can't go into a restaurant that serves it or I get sick from
the overpowering smell coming from the kitchen.

Just cause YOU think something is stinky does not mean all humanity
thinks it's stinky.  Extrapolating such stinky receptions to whole other
species is useless.

-Betty Cunningham


Dinosaur Interplanetary Gazette wrote:
> 
> Anyone who has ever had a close enounter with Gingko berries in the fall
> will undoubtedly agree with my dubbing them p*ke berries. (I'm not sure
> if P*ke is a politically correct word these days, so I apologize to
> those with tender sensibilites or no children or both).
> 
> They smell something like substances that could have come out of either
> end of a sick dog.
> 
> Nonetheless, the apparent evolutionary strategy of "fruit" is to get an
> animal to eat it, digest it, and deposit the undigested seeds (coated
> with nice, nutritious, fertilizing scat) in a new location where they'll
> grow.
> 
> Gingko seeds have just the right characteristics: soft, fleshy, edible
> fruit, hard inner shell containing a seed.
> 
> >From modern sensibility, however, they aren't as tasty and don't smell
> anywhere near as good as a peach or an avocado.
> 
> One would conclude, however, that yer average neighborhood dino might
> just think that gingko fruit was the best-smelling, tastiest thing on
> the menu at the Sauropod Hilton.
> 
> Has anyone considered this idea and used it to extrapolate to the
> sensory capabilities of our saurian friends?
> 
> E. Summer
> 
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