RE: Velociraptor scavenged azhdarchid pterosaur

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

On Mon, Mar 5th, 2012 at 8:58 AM, Jaime Headden <qi_leong@hotmail.com> wrote:

>   But even if the *Protoceratops andrewsi* were capable of selecting living 
> prey the size of a
> "raptor," it is another thing to presume that it was regular in this habit. 
> Even in modern
> herbivores that select animal prey (deer eating birds, grave-robbing 
> elephants, and of course
> omnivory in swine and boars) this is not regular or even preferential: They 
> _are_ herbivores,
> after all. 

Show me a living analogue for a 'herbivore' with a freaking huge beak and 
outrageously powerful 
jaw muscles to power it and I might be convinced of the unlikelihood. The jaw 
apparatus of 
protoceratops seems to be over-engineered for strict herbivory. Given its 
apparently arid or semi-
arid habitat, assuming opportunistic omnivory may not be such a stretch. In 
really bad times of 
extended drought, tackling even a velociraptor out of desperation might have 
been worthwhile.

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