Re: Speculative dino species

["Andy Farke" <andyfarke@hotmail.com>]

Andy Farke:>>>So when North and South America are reconnected, you'd have
some pretty major changes in the North American fauna. Maybe the end of the
therizinosaurs?<<
Daniel Bensen: >Never!  Even if the titanosaurs make it all the way up to
Alaska, the therizinosaurs can still run around between the legs of the
sauropods, eating the plowed-up leftovers (the little ones, anyway).

A good point. I was thinking, though, more about the effects of newly
introduced predators having a heyday with the therizinosaurs (similar to the
faunal turnovers when North and South American critters met). Who
knows--maybe abelisaurids really liked therizinosaurs because they were
plump and tasty. At any rate, we're likely to have some major faunal
turnovers "when continents collide." I nominate the therizinosaurs as a
candidate for North American extinction or extripation when the isthmus of
Panama reappears, due to new predators.

Mike Habib>>but I couldn't help toying with the idea of sanguivorous species
of very small theropods, or more likely, toothed birds (assuming they make
it through K/T as well in our little model).
Daniel Bensen: >I like the idea of vampire birds.  Actually, they might not
be that much different from the modern ox-pecker, which eats ticks and
things living on large mammals, but also likes to peck at open sores to get
at the blood.

I envision a small theropod with little sharp premaxillary teeth, sneaking
in at night to dine on the blood of sleeping sauropods. . .

Daniel Bensen:>Perhaps all the large, carnivorous dinosaurs died out during
the ice age, and all new large forms are giant versions of small forms.

Which brings up another question: How would the Ice Age have affected
dinosaurian faunas in northern North America and northern Eurasia? I posit
that uninsulated dinosaurs (ornithischians, sauropods, etc.) would not like
the cold. Perhaps the Ice Age would result in the extripation of these
clades from northern climes, where they would be replaced by a radiation of
fuzzy theropods. Maybe therizinosaurs would return to dominance (after being
nearly driven to extinction by South American predators) as the main plant
eaters of the tundra.

Andy

_______________________________
Andrew A. Farke
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
501 East St. Joseph Street
Rapid City, SD  57701

andyfarke@hotmail.com