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No Way | 1 Feb 2005 01:44
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'Box 9' launched

I just finished scanning the contents of Box 9 of my fossil paper collection and uploading the images of the
covers or tables of content to the new Yahoogroup at
Dinosaur_Paper_Collection_Box_9 <at> yahoogroups.com Where I'm dealing with a bound volume I have
indicated the contents in short text files.

The other 'Box' groups can be found at the following URLs:
Dinosaur_Paper_Collection_Box_1 <at> yahoogroups.com
Dinosaur_Paper_Collection_Box_4 <at> yahoogroups.com
Dinosaur_Paper_Collection_Box_6 <at> yahoogroups.com

The remaining 9 or so Boxes will come online over the next month or so.

I am also translating the bibliographic information into Excel spreadsheet (xls) format. This file can be
found in the Files section of 'Boxes' 1, 6 and 9. You would need either Microsoft Excel or a compatible
program to view this file. Messages are sent to the groups when I upload an update.

alincodj2k

		
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John Bois | 1 Feb 2005 02:21
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Re: Vegavis gen. nov. - new anseriform in today's Nature


On Sun, 30 Jan 2005, Graydon wrote:

> Ostriches are not more of an R-strategist than a hadrosaur -- ostriches
> definitely do care of the young, where that's only inferred for one
> hadrosaur...

And no sauropods.

> There's every possibility of variation in nest care among
> them.

Yes.

> As a general rule, clutch size ties tightly to mortality and resources;
> those big hadrosaur clutches indicate some mix of lots of mortality and
> plentiful food, or at least a mortality curve that stays under the food
> supply as a reliable matter.

Right.  There is nothing magical or superior about large clutch size or r
strategy _per se_.  But they do indicated high mortality--and high
predator pressure!  This is the conclusion also of TE Martin's study of
North vs. South hemisphere birds (greater clutch sizes in comparable n vs. s
clades reflects greater pred. pressure in Nth--from continental
predators).  The idea that often gets a free pass is that an endless
supply of babies as food somehow satisfies the predators allowing the
parents to keep a couple for their genetic endowment.  In the case of
ostriches, they exist thanks to the fact that are very
effective at hiding--because they are practically immune to all
population deepression as adults.  But this doesn't mean they will keep on
(Continue reading)

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Graydon | 1 Feb 2005 02:50
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Re: Vegavis gen. nov. - new anseriform in today's Nature

On Mon, Jan 31, 2005 at 08:21:08PM -0500, John Bois scripsit:
> On Sun, 30 Jan 2005, Graydon wrote:
> > Ostriches are not more of an R-strategist than a hadrosaur --
> > ostriches definitely do care of the young, where that's only
> > inferred for one hadrosaur...
> 
> And no sauropods.

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

I have no difficulty imagining a whip-tail sauropod keeping an eye on
its nest, but we're not going to find many fossils of small would-be
nest robbers blown into fragments by apatosaurian tail strikes.

There are also some sauropods-in-company trackways that appear to
indicate herding behaviour, with the smaller animals in the middle and
the largest to the front of the direction of travel.

[snip]
> > As a general rule, clutch size ties tightly to mortality and
> > resources; those big hadrosaur clutches indicate some mix of lots of
> > mortality and plentiful food, or at least a mortality curve that
> > stays under the food supply as a reliable matter.
> 
> Right.  There is nothing magical or superior about large clutch size
> or r strategy _per se_.  But they do indicated high mortality--and
> high predator pressure! 

And you can test your hypothesis by looking at clutch sizes over the
Cretaceous, to see if there's an identifiable trend.
(Continue reading)

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David Peters | 1 Feb 2005 05:19
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Eocaptorhinus question

In Heaton and Reisz 1980 Eocaptorhinus is reconstructed with cervical
ribs almost as wide as the dorsal ribs (no problem) and a pectoral
girdle encircling the mid cervicals (apparent problem). (Also shown in
Carroll 1988).

Since Hylonomous has a neck and pareiasaurs have a neck, why doesn't
Eocaptorhinus?

Or should the pectoral girdle be moved back a notch or two?

??

David Peters
St. Louis
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Mickey Rowe | 1 Feb 2005 09:01
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Dinosaur List Administrative Message

This file was last touched November 30th, 2004.

// In case you didn't notice, there is a tab to take you directly to
// the archives from www.dinosaurmailinglist.org
//
// If you're new... we have implemented a filter designed to block all
// MIME or html coded portions of messages.  We had to do this to
// prevent viruses from circulating through the list.  In order for
// your messages to reach everyone, and more importantly in order for
// your messages to appear in the archive, you *MUST* send them as
// plain text only.  If you have any doubts about whether or not you
// are doing this, please check the archives to see how your messages
// are appearing.  If you do not know how to format your mail as plain
// text only, please see: http://www.expita.com/nomime.html
//
// As always, comments on policy are welcomed as long as they are made
// to the list-owners and not to the list. -- MPR

Rather than sending the whole long administrative message each month
I'm going to give you only the table of contents and the two sections
that I expect to be the most popular.  If you wish to see the entire
document you can visit it at any time at:

http://www.dinosaurmailinglist.org

-------------------------

Contents:

1.  How to unsubscribe
(Continue reading)

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David Marjanovic | 1 Feb 2005 11:14
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Re: Vegavis gen. nov. - new anseriform in today's Nature

> There are also some sauropods-in-company trackways that appear to
> indicate herding behaviour, with the smaller animals in the middle and
> the largest to the front of the direction of travel.

Besides... is there a point in communal nesting (found in Auca Mahuevo at 
least...) when the nests aren't guarded?

>> Right.  There is nothing magical or superior about large clutch size
>> or r strategy _per se_.  But they do indicated high mortality--and
>> high predator pressure!

They do not, however, indicate increased susceptibility to extinction. If 
anything, they indicate the opposite ("sauropods are weed species").

> And you can test your hypothesis by looking at clutch sizes over the
> Cretaceous, to see if there's an identifiable trend.

I'm sure not enough Cretaceous nests are known yet.

> If -- as does not seem implausible -- a sauropod takes 30 years to reach
> full adult size, and then spends another 30 busy reproducing, and lays
> only one clutch of 30 eggs a year (though if they can grow that fast
> they can lay more), you're looking at 900 eggs; that's probably not
> enough.
>
> But if it's 20 years, 50 years, and 200 eggs a year -- still a tiny
> fraction of maternal mass, smaller than pretty much all extant birds --
> you're looking at ten _thousand_ eggs, and pretty good odds two of them
> make it to stable reproductive adulthood, on average.
(Continue reading)

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David Marjanovic | 1 Feb 2005 13:08
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Re: Wikipedia and Wikispecies

> Wikipedia is basically free knowledge for everyone, by everyone; it is
> an online encyclopedia that can be edited by anybody.  For example, in
> the first paragraph of the entry on Tyrannosaurus rex, the article
> mentions that T. rex is poorly known and rare at only 20 specimens as
> of 2001.  "Only?"  I know there are listmembers, both professional and
> amateur, who would have something to say about that!

Note to potential contributors: Do NOT restrain yourselves. Many articles 
already contain more details than anyone of us would ever want to know. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Emperors_of_the_Ming_Dynasty is a good 
example, especially if you follow a few links.

> Further, there is Wikispecies, which is an attempt to catalogue every
> known species to have ever existed, for anybody to access.  This is a
> big task, but there is so much knowledge on this list that it would
> seem much smaller.

http://species.wikipedia.org/wiki/Done_and_to_do
IMNSHO they should merge with the Tree of Life http://tolweb.org/tree as 
soon as possible. Superphylum Radiata -- horror!!!
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GUY LEAHY | 1 Feb 2005 16:02
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Bird brains gain new respect


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/01/science/01bird.html
February 1, 2005
Minds of Their Own: Birds Gain RespectBy SANDRA BLAKESLEE 

irdbrain has long been a colloquial term of ridicule. The common notion is that birds' brains are simple, or
so scientists thought and taught for many years. But that notion has increasingly been called into
question as crows and parrots, among other birds, have shown what appears to be behavior as intelligent as
that of chimpanzees.

The clash of simple brain and complex behavior has led some neuroscientists to create a new map of the avian
brain. 

Today, in the journal Nature Neuroscience Reviews, an international group of avian experts is issuing
what amounts to a manifesto. Nearly everything written in anatomy textbooks about the brains of birds is
wrong, they say. The avian brain is as complex, flexible and inventive as any mammalian brain, they argue,
and it is time to adopt a more accurate nomenclature that reflects a new understanding of the anatomies of
bird and mammal brains. 

"Names have a powerful influence on the experiments we do and the way we think," said Dr. Erich D. Jarvis, a
neuroscientist at Duke University and a leader of the Avian Brain Nomenclature Consortium. "Old
terminology has hindered scientific progress."

The consortium of 29 scientists from six countries met for seven years to develop new, more accurate names
for structures in both avian and mammalian brains. For example, the bird's seat of intelligence or its
higher brain is now termed the pallium. 

"The correction of terms is a great advance," said Dr. Jon Kaas, a leading expert in neuroanatomy at
Vanderbilt University in Nashville who did not participate in the consortium. "It's hard to get
scientists to agree about anything."
(Continue reading)

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david peters | 1 Feb 2005 17:30
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nomenclature question

Can plants and animals share nomenclature?

I googled Anthodon and found a pareiasaur and a flower.

David Peters
St. Louis
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Mar Qos Aker | 1 Feb 2005 18:00
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Avian brains

Dear Deeno Lovers,

The avian brain made it to the New York Times Science Page/Section (how to capitalize, my, my) with this URL:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/01/science/01bird.html?th=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1107273992-KE+1bXGCKUaomQIB+eSH4Q

		
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