Re: Coping w/ the rule; was metabolic rate [...]

["Jaime A. Headden" <qilongia@yahoo.com>]

John Bois (jbois@verizon.net) wrote:

<But so many exceptions to this: extant dinosaurs avoid predation by being
small (i.e., for hiding and flying);>

  This is not a catchall. Birds can hide and fly to avoid predation, but some
of the most effective avian predators hunt birds, such as the peregrine falcon.
Other birds avoid predation by 2) being nocturnal, 3) by being big, 4) by being
medium sized, 5) by grouping in very large numbers, 6) by being camoflagued or
cryptic in patterning and shape (which is also useful for the predators), and
so on.

  This should for the most part be true for a good deal of other non-avian
groups. For example, only humans and crocs hunt crocs, and humans as a hunter
race have developed beyond comparison with other animals in hunting methods and
preferrences. There is virtually nothing a human will not hunt as prey,
regardless of its edibility.

  Cheers,

Jaime A. Headden
http://bitestuff.blogspot.com/

"Innocent, unbiased observation is a myth." --- P.B. Medawar (1969)


      
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