RE: ... vs energy deficient gigantothermy (boo hiss)

["R. Irmis" <rbi@dana.ucc.nau.edu>]

<<Archosaurs don't like the flavor of elephant meat--they're waiting for a
better tasting meat before they move into the large size niche again.>>

But really, doesnt the sound of a free range elephant for dinner make your
mouth water?

<<With respect, I think you have this backwards.  Elephants _could_ produce
a litter of 12 much smaller infants (right?).  But it is likely that a
single heavily invested baby pays off reproductive dividends.
I mean, elephant babys usually survive, hadrosaur babies probably usually
did not.>>

Ummmm....if you look at all extant mammals, they follow the trend that as
body size increases, litter size and frequency decreases.  Thus, I question
whether or not it is physiologically possible for a large mammal to have a
large litter.  The real advantage that archosaurs have is when environmental
pressures on a population rear their head.  Because of the large
reproductive capacity of large archosaurs, they can rebound much faster than
a large mammal.

Regards,
Randall Irmis