Comments on: Non-Avian Dinosaur Eats Avian Dinosaur http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/dinosaur/2011/11/non-avian-dinosaur-eats-avian-dinosaur/ Where Paleontology Meets Pop Culture Sat, 22 Dec 2012 16:48:38 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4 By: Greg Laden http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/dinosaur/2011/11/non-avian-dinosaur-eats-avian-dinosaur/comment-page-1/#comment-5469 Greg Laden Fri, 25 Nov 2011 16:56:42 +0000 http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/dinosaur/?p=6766#comment-5469 The problem of whole vs. in bits and pieces when found has plagued the scavenging-hunting problem in hominid evolutionary studies and turns out to be a dead end there. There is probably not a niche for eating whole birds that happen to be dead. One specimen does not mean much, but if even two or three microraptors are found with evidence of swallowed-whole birds in them and no other cases are know, we can be pretty secure in the idea that they are hunting live birds. You point that the bird need not have been in a tree is of course no only strong, but very strong, I would say. Animals that hunt birds in trees or in flight are strong fliers with strong talons. This may exclude microraptor as it probably wasn't a strong flyer! Maybe a reasonable high-to low glider, which would suggest pouncing on birds that are on the ground. The problem of whole vs. in bits and pieces when found has plagued the scavenging-hunting problem in hominid evolutionary studies and turns out to be a dead end there. There is probably not a niche for eating whole birds that happen to be dead. One specimen does not mean much, but if even two or three microraptors are found with evidence of swallowed-whole birds in them and no other cases are know, we can be pretty secure in the idea that they are hunting live birds.

You point that the bird need not have been in a tree is of course no only strong, but very strong, I would say. Animals that hunt birds in trees or in flight are strong fliers with strong talons. This may exclude microraptor as it probably wasn’t a strong flyer! Maybe a reasonable high-to low glider, which would suggest pouncing on birds that are on the ground.

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