Re: Chalicothere knuckle-walker
HARRY R. ERWIN (herwin@osf1.gmu.edu)
5 May 1995 15:58:09 GMT
Robert Scott (rscott@mail.utexas.edu) wrote:
: Somebody posted something about chalicotheres that were apparently
: knucklewalkers a while back. My reaction was "Wow, cool! That could be a
: great example of a relevant (to anthro.) convergence." Anyway, would
: whoever posted that mind passing on a reference. I'd also be interested
: in discussion although i am thus far 'chalicothere ignorant.'
The book's back at the library: "Evolution of the Perissodactyls"
: Also, has anyone compared the ecology of bipedal dinosaurs and hominids?
: Seems like that may be another interesting comparison.
Dinosaurs seem to be desert-adapted when they first appear. H. erectus was
adapted to the treeless savannah when it first appeared. Bipedalism is an
arid-country strategy that appears to be associated with reliance on a
patchy distribution of high-quality food. (Flying is the natural next
step, by the way, since it extends the search zone even further.) Joel
Brown did some work on this at the University of Arizona back in the
1980s.
: Rob Scott
--
Harry Erwin
Internet: herwin@gmu.edu
PhD student in comp neurosci: "Glitches happen" & "Meaning is emotional"
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