Re: Extinction and other...

[Matt Wedel <sauropod@ou.edu>]

> So far in my lax investigations, late Cretaceous dinosaurs did not seem
> to have the conformation of the skull that would allow light in to be
> measured by the pineal gland.

Neither do we.  The pineal gland is deep in our heads; the only light it
"measures" is that which comes in through our eyes.  Melatonin release by
the pineal gland appears to be correlated with seasonal variations in light,
but the pineal gland does not receive light directly.  Same for crocs,
birds, and most dinos, AFAIK.

Furthermore, if the dust cloud was dense enough to supress or suspend
photosynthesis, the pineal glands in all of these organisms would not be
picking up normal amounts of light.  I suspect that, based on the reduced
light, most organisms' pineal glands would think it was midwinter, or dusk,
or whatever, all the time, and alter their melatonin release accordingly,
for the duration.

Seasonal Affective Disorder killed the dinosaurs.

Matt Wedel