Re: Nocturnal crocs?

["David Marjanovic" <david.marjanovic@gmx.at>]

----- Original Message -----
From: "John Bois" <jbois@umd5.umd.edu>
To: "Morgan Churchill" <mmcjawa@yahoo.com>
Cc: "Dinosaur Mailing list" <dinosaur@usc.edu>
Sent: Sunday, August 26, 2001 2:14 PM
Subject: Re: Nocturnal crocs?


> On Sat, 25 Aug 2001, Morgan Churchill wrote:
>
> > Dinosaurs are also known from desert like habitats, and thier were
> "prairie" ecosystems, they were just dominated by ferns, and other plants.
>
> Grass is special.  Critical traits not possessed by ferns (to my
> knowledge) are: root system (among other plants with roots, grass roots
> are amazing absorbers of water--capturing every drop before it drains into
> soil depths; wind pollination rather than motile sperm (i.e., there is
> more wind than water in a desert); grazing tolerance (I forget how it
> works, but a grass plant's growth mechanism is not affected by
> cropping)

They grow at the bases instead of the tips.

> --therefore higher productivity; rapid growth rate.  So, it's not
> just concealment, but continued productivity in very arid areas that are
> essential to the ostrich.

When it's dry grass turns yellow and all above-surface parts _die_. Zero
productivity.

*Gastornis* didn't have grass available for concealment and was
carnivorous... and it had all sorts of potentially nest-robbing mammals of
all sizes in its habitat. AFAIK there's no evidence it was nocturnal.