Re: On predation.
chris brochu (gator@mail.utexas.edu)
28 Oct 1995 14:35:21 GMT
In article <hubey.814830928@pegasus.montclair.edu> H. M. Hubey,
hubey@pegasus.montclair.edu writes:
>>>perhaps hundreds of miles overland to reach.
>
>>I think you underestimate both the distance crocs will travel on land and
>>the water cover in eastern Africa.
>
>We're stuck with fuzzy numbers again.
They were your numbers this time, not mine.
Lots of animals
>were wiped out from lots of place and if they weren't
>wiped out from Africa it may be because many predators
>weren't wiped out in Africa either.
Relevance?
>
>in any case, the reinfestation is harder than for land
>predators. It's too plain to argue about.
And incorrect. Check population statistics for alligators in North
America. They breed at a high enough rate that they will spread quickly.
Obviously
>they can infest waterways that are close to one another or
>connected. How the hell would they infest a river or a waterhole
>20 miles away. I can't imagine a croc going for a 20 mile
>walk and surviving it.
Sorry, but this has happened.
>
>
>>Care to support your contention that bodies of water in Africa were
>>separated by hundreds of miles during the Miocene?
>
>
>Make it 20. Make it 10. What's the big deal, when I'm
>pointing out the difficulty of it all.
The big deal is this - you contend that aquatic predators will not spread
if bodies of water are far enough apart. You do not know that this was
the case. Your "fuzzy numbers" cannot be used as evidence for anything
unless there is some empirical reason for accepting them.
>
>Sea warfare is not like land warfare. YOu can't "hold"
>the sea like land; you have to search and destroy.
>
>And crocs going over land is like land predators going over
>sea lanes. Reverse the picture. Do you deny that it would
>be more difficult?
Yes. Crocs have strong limbs. They are the only reptiles that can
gallop. THEY CAN WALK ON LAND. I doubt the statistics for "how far" are
available, but they can walk for multiple miles.
chris
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