Comments on: How Eggs Shaped Dinosaur Evolution

By: Caitlin

Caitlin — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 20:55:15 +0000

Is there a print-friendly version of this?

By: James Staples

James Staples — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 18:52:33 +0000

Why, how about this: ‘Avian’ Dinosaurs could Fly to ‘other places’, and find ‘other surecs of food’ that way, and they thus had acquired enough Beneficial Mutations to a Survive The Catastrophe via Aplication of the Superior Predation-Scavanging Skill-set inherent to Mother Natures like ol’ ‘Gene Modification Therapy’……
Yeah-yay, I sayeth unto you….Dharma, are the Sutras of Guru Darwin Rinpoche….ying and yang, as posed, in his inelucutabe prose, upon the Very Grandest of Scales!
Yeah-ya, Breathren, I say – Halitosis!

By: Amber

Amber — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 05:54:49 +0000

“Gravity killed the dinosaurs”. Wow, it’s been a few years since I came across this particular piece of nonsense. You wouldn’t happen be a fan of Timecube would you?

By: Curculio

Curculio — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 18:22:13 +0000

Thanks for this well-reasoned posting outlining the key strengths and weaknesses of this paper.

By: Staten-John

Staten-John — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 01:16:34 +0000

Egg laying became a burden only after surface gravity was increasing on Pangea (see ‘The Gravity Theory of Mass Extinction’ on http://www.dinoextinct.com). This increase in surface gravity thinned out the dinosaur population enough to allow mammals to increase in size and compete with dinosaurs.
The extinction of the dinosaurs was not due to an asteroid impact but by the combined effort of mammals and increasing surface gravitation.

By: Christi

Christi — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 01:11:52 +0000

Most lineages of avian dinosaurs also became extinct as well as non-avian dinosaurs…. the therapod dinos (of the avian) like the raptors obviously went extinct.

By: Herman Diaz

Herman Diaz — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 14:18:51 +0000

@’Dr’. S Beckmann, BS

“Iffy” = “Doubtful.”

“Probably” = “Most likely”.

By: Kattato Garu

Kattato Garu — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 09:29:58 +0000

It seems to me like clutching at straws. Egg-laying didn’t prevent the dinosaurs from thriving for 180 million years give or take a few, and there were catastrophic events at several periods through the mesosoic. I am incredibly suspicious of any ‘silver bullet’ explanation for the KT extinctions.

By: Herman Diaz

Herman Diaz — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 04:46:06 +0000

@220mya

Have you read Bakker & Bir 2004? I ask b/c the evidence “for Bakker’s assertion” is very good. If not, “Dino Family Values” ( http://discovermagazine.com/2003/jun/cover ) is a very good summation of said evidence.

By: 'Dr'. S Beckmann, BS

'Dr'. S Beckmann, BS — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 00:59:55 +0000

… and the difference between “iffy” and “probably” is..? Hey, I don’t know nuthin’, but I know they both aren’t allowed in court. Just sayin’.

By: 220mya

220mya — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 23:02:33 +0000

There’s really no direct evidence for Bakker’s assertion, although it seems reasonable.

But this is not in conflict with Brian’s original statement. There’s plenty of time between being a hatchling that is cared for by an adult, and being a sub-adult/adult. During these few years, you’re on your own, but still one among many small carnivores.

By: Herman Diaz

Herman Diaz — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 18:07:45 +0000

“In a diverse Late Jurassic ecosystem, for example, young Allosaurus, Torvosaurus and Ceratosaurus not only had to compete with one another, but also with smaller carnivores like Ornitholestes, Coelurus, Marshosaurus and Stokesosaurus.”

Sounds iffy, especially given that, as indicated by Bakker & Bir 2004 (which Codron et al. didn’t cite), Allosaurus & probably Ceratosaurus brought food to their young.