Re: Fwd: Re: 11th specimen of Archaeopteryx

[Dann Pigdon <dannj@alphalink.com.au>]

> Datum:     Sun, 23 Oct 2011 11:52:15 -0500
> Von:     Clair Ossian <clastic@verizon.net>
> 
> Hmmm...I suggest you try to sit in or build a nest in a cycad.
> 
> I grow a number of species and have seen and handled many other species.
> Cycads commonly have inflexible fronds and leaflets that are generally
> sharp, jagged, and very easily inflict bloody wounds on mammals (me) when
> the plants are handled.
> 
> I have been savagely ripped up on a number of occasions when moving or
> repotting one :)
> 
> I suspect that cycads did not make favored nest sites.
> 
> Clair Russell Ossian, Ph.D.
> Professor Emeritus, Geology

Sifakas seem unfazed by leaping into trees bearing wicked-looking spines. There 
are also several 
bird species that nest in large cacti.

For a small arboreal Mesozoic avian (or non-avian), a spiky cycad might have 
made a great refuge 
from much larger predators. I suspect there would have been a size limit to the 
creatures that 
could negotiate the spikes safely though.

-- 
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Dann Pigdon
Spatial Data Analyst               Australian Dinosaurs
Melbourne, Australia               http://home.alphalink.com.au/~dannj
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