Re: Gigantoraptor stuff

[evelyn sobielski <koreke77@yahoo.de>]

> >Why did this happen in Mongolia and not say, North
> America?
> 
> It might have

Or it might simply be a case of different lineages
evolving to fill the same niche(s) (megaherbivore, and
possibly associated taxa). This doesn't mean that this
or that lineage didn't evolve gigantic species in
either place, only that the early dinos which caught
the plants (so to speak) - and thus *predominated* in
the size class - were from different lineages.

Much of Europe was not really ideal habitat for
mega-anything in the mid/late Mesozoic. With the
Alpides orogeny only starting towards its end, Europe
transformed into something a bit like a subtropical
Indonesia during the Jurassic. Might be a faunistic
barrier, much like Indonesia was a faunistic barrier
for mammalian megaherbivores of Sahul vs. SE Asia
later.

What is the distribution of size classes among dino
lineages in East Asia vs N America? (And is there any
difference between W and E North America for that
matter?)


Regards,

Eike




        
                
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