Re: dinosaur beaks and ora speeds

["Tim Williams" <twilliams_alpha@hotmail.com>]

Michael Lovejoy wrote:

> > Personally I feel all ornithischians and all maniraptorans >possessed 
> beaks.
>
> IIRC, in your Eotyrannus paper, Tyrannosauroidea is in Maniraptoriformes.  
> Does this mean you feel T-rex had a beak? ( Not trying to be funny; this is 
> a serious question.)

Not wanting to speak on Darren's behalf, but Maniraptoriformes is a more 
inclusive group than Maniraptora.  The latter (according to recent analyses) 
contains _Ornitholestes_, alvarezsaurids, oviraptorosaurs, therizinosaurs, 
dromaeosaurids, troodontids, and birds.  Tyrannosaurs and ornithomimosaurs 
(which were almost certainly beaked) are outside this clade, but are not too 
far away.  The skull of _Alioramus_ shows good evidence for a beak, at least 
according to the criteria used to judge whether a rhampotheca was present or 
not (see Darren's post).  The same evidence can be marshaled in favor of a 
beaked _Carcharodontosaurus_ as well.


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

> It can be tempting to apply a human context to animal
> facial expressions or bodily postures, but without a Vulcan mind-meld
> you can never know exactly what motivates an animal to do what it does.

A Steve Irwin + Komodo dragon mind-meld - now THAT I'd watch!

> Victorian naturalists used to think that hyaenas felt guilty for killing 
> they prey, and that this was proof that they had a sense of christian 
> morality. However their sheepish, furtive glances straight after a kill are 
> more likely to check for lions or wild dogs that may try to steal the 
> carcass, rather than proof that they feel any sort of guilt.

Well, so much for that theory.  Similarly, I would guess that a crocodile's 
tears do not, after all, reflect a genuine sense of remorse after devouring 
an English tourist.



Tim

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