Re: John Bois on Armadillos at the K/T!

[Fabio Marco Dalla Vecchia <fabdalla@box1.tin.it>]

jbois@umd5.umd.edu wrote: <<If there was replacement of "background"
species, your original question remains a very good one: why did the
foreground species disappear?>>

Just for precision. When I talked about giantism as a "background"
phenomenon I did not mean giantism only as a taxonomic phenomenon. I think
that it is also a matter of growth. This is also the opinion of Dave Unwin,
if I remember correctly te text of his abstract on the JVP (not arrived yet
in the far Italy: I saw Dave Peters' copy in Tolouse).
A schematic example: the individuals of a species can have a wing span of
5, 5.5, 5.3, 6, 6.5, 5.8, 6.6 meters and, sometimes, 10 m. 
See Andrews (1982) for more info about reptile growth.

ANDREWS , 1982, R.M, 1982, Patterns of growth in Reptiles In: Gans C. and
Pough F.H. (Eds.), Biology of the Reptilia, Vol. 13, 6:273-320, Academic
Press, London.

Sincerely
Fabio M. Dalla Vecchia
----------------------
Fabio M. Dalla Vecchia, PhD
Museo Paleontologico Cittadino
Via Valentinis 134
I-34074 Monfalcone
ITALY
http://www.fante.speleo.it