Re: Gallery and Commentary for Copenhagen Mamenchisaurus

[frank bliss <frank@blissnet.com>]

List subscribers,
I have received several answers (some posted and some private) to my my 
initial question of "when did grass arrive on the scene?" from well 
respected and highly educated individuals. They are generally in 
agreement as grass becoming widespread after the Cretaceous (It was 
actually around in the Cretaceous apparently) but these answers 
inferred the epoch where grasses became important in the scheme of 
things as being anywhere from the Paleocene, Oligocene, Eocene and 
Miocene. Apparently there is not a consensus on this issue therefore 
the answer "Tertiary" is the only conclusion I can draw from the 
answers received to the question.  (There was a slight leaning of the 
result to the Miocene.) It is interesting there is not a better 
resolution to the question. Curious how such a seemingly simple 
question becomes muddied in these waters.  (Ask any 3 geologists 
anything and you will get 4 opinions ;-)  I thank you all for the reply 
to the query.

Frank Bliss
MS Geology/Biostratigraphy
Weston, Wyoming