Re: Sinornithoides in DA... the first Sleeping Dragon.

[Phil Bigelow <bigelowp@juno.com>]

On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 22:32:40 +0200 TooTs <DragonsClaw@gmx.net> writes:
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <MariusRomanus@aol.com>

> Since you say you were clear enough, I would take that for: "Mei was 
> NOT
> found in a sleeping posture, but the specimen reflects a futile 
> attempt to
> conter some catastrophic onslaught!" - If I got the rest right, you 
> base
> that on the mode of burial (about which the paper actually doesnt 
> tell very
> much, as others have pointed out already). Which brings up my 
> original
> question again:
> Why should a cursorial animal, contrary to the "run away" behaviour 
> one
> would expect, curl up into a ball when faced with deadly danger?
> Torsten


Good point.  And if we assume that this active cursorial dino was adapted
to its environment, then it should be temperature-tolerant as well.

During field recon 7 years ago, I came upon a rattlesnake skeleton,
laying on the top of a hoodoo, fuly articulated and in the characteristic
coiled position.  The skeleton was about 2 meters from a hole.  The
rattler may have passed during the night or during the day, but my guess
is that disease (or age) weakened the snake so that it couldn't handle
the heat (or cold).  Simply put, I couldn't do better than a wild guess.

I agree with the others.  The stratigraphy around Mei may help address
the issue better than will data-less speculation.  In particular, the
stratigraphy that COVERED the skeleton.

<pb>
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