Re: T rex bites your bum

[Jordan Mallon <jordan.mallon@gmail.com>]

> On Mon, 23 May 2005 01:04:19 +0200 TooTs <DragonsClaw@gmx.net> writes:
>
>it corresponds with some thought I had when I first started to take a
closer look at >Theropod teeth: They all (?) had those serrated teeth.

More or less, yes.  Some spinosaurs had micro-serrations, though --
harldly visible to the naked eye.  Don't know how condusive those
would've been to a septic bite.

On 5/22/05, Phil Bigelow <bigelowp@juno.com> wrote:

> I read this "following strategy" all the time (Horner, Abler, Bakker,
> Curie have repeated this for years), but what is the original source for
> the info?

I'm pretty sure Abler first put the idea forward.

>I agree that Komodo Dragon teeth are efficient innoculation
> devices, and I agree that infection from bites is a frequent mode of
> death for Komodo prey items, but is it really true that a Komodo will
> spend days following a *specific* infected individual?

I kinda doubt it.  I'd be interested in seeing a paper on the topic if
anyone knows of one (I think there's a book on the Komodo dragon out
there that makes mention of this).  It's been said onlist before,
though, and I'll say it again -- the septic bite of the Komodo dragon
is more than likely overemphasized as a means of dispatching prey.

-- 
Jordan Mallon

B.Sc. (Honours), Carleton University
Vertebrate Palaeontology & Palaeoecology

Paleoart website: http://www.geocities.com/paleoportfolio/
http://dino.lm.com/artists/display.php?name=Mallon
MSN Messenger: j_mallon@hotmail.com