Poison theropods & Jack Dumbacher

[Stephan Pickering <stefanpickering2002@yahoo.com>]

I would add to the references:
J.P. Dumbacher, 1997. The ecology and evolution of
chemical defense in the avian genus Pitohui. Ph.D.
dissertation, Univ. Chicago, 189pp
His research has, to be sure, continued, the 2001
collaborative paper with Bob Fleischer explores the
reasons (decrease in batrachotoxins in skin and
feathers, sympatry among various species, and
variation of types of predators)for changes in colour
patterns among these theropods.
Let us stretch our imaginations: could it be that the
flying theropods during the end-Cretaceous developed
analogous aposematic signalling? Did the small
pterosaurs (I agree with Gregory Paul that the
swell-brained flying dinosaurs probably drove the
pterosaurs into extinction) have similar toxins in
their skin and integument? Of course, in Pitohui
nomenclature is out-of-control, as 20 "subspecies" are
named on the basis of, in the main, colour patterns --
meaning: all of these semantic tap-dancing
"subspecies" will disappear when cladistic/molecular
systematicists can sort through the nonsense. It could
be that Pitohui kirhocephalus and P. dichrous, the
most toxic of the theropods, are variations of the
same species...just as I believe Daspletosaurus is a
species of Tyrannosaurus. 

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