Re: How Did Hadrosaurs Survive? (Was: Hadrosaur "mummy" questions)

["Jordan Mallon" <j_mallon@hotmail.com>]

> From: Dann Pigdon <dannj@alphalink.com.au>

> I'm all for tyrannosaurs moving quickly. But with a suspended phase?
> Those long legs would seem capable of reasonably fast locomotion >without 
> the need for a suspended phase. Of course YOUNG tyrannosaurs >didn't have 
> quite as much inertia or momemtum to worry about. I like >the idea of 
> sub-adults doing most of the active hunting, herding prey >into an ambush 
> by the larger adults (as shown in "When Dinosaur Roamed >N.America").

I sort of liked that idea myself, until HP Brett Booth (or was it his wife?) 
brought up an interesting argument a couple of months ago.  Unless chasing 
prey into the mounths of the larger adults was instinctive, how would the 
young'uns know how to do this if their parents weren't already fast enough 
to teach them?  Many hunting behaviours are learned, and in this case, the 
adult tyrannosaurs would likely have to show their kids the proper 
technique.  Am I making any sense?  Where's Brett when you need him? :P
Oh, paleontology.  So full of questions.  So little money available to 
answer them...

Jordan Mallon

Undergraduate Student, Carleton University
Vertebrate Paleontology & Paleoecology

Website: http://www.geocities.com/paleoportfolio/
AIM: jslice mallon

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