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Post by Infinity Blade on Oct 29, 2021 5:00:29 GMT 5
Yeah I'm not sure what's going on there. Maybe something else in Komodo dragon saliva that caused the blood to run thin. I have two papers which state that there is no evidence of clinically relevant envenomation by monitor bites.
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Post by Supercommunist on Nov 20, 2021 3:46:58 GMT 5
So I think its fair to say, crocodilians are very good at filling the semi-aquatic sit and wait predator niche but I wonder what improvements can be made to them? A lot of my suggestions for predators have been serrated teeth but that's not actually a really good adaptation for a lurker, since I imagine that just increases the chances of the prey breaking free by ripping their own flesh and then dying far out of the crocodiles reach. I wonder if kaprosuchus-like dentition is an effective compromise between between gripping and ripping?  |
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Post by Supercommunist on Apr 19, 2022 4:46:10 GMT 5
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Post by Supercommunist on Aug 28, 2023 8:35:17 GMT 5
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Post by Supercommunist on Sept 3, 2023 7:16:00 GMT 5
Any thoughts on how an owl's zygodactyl foot compares to an eagles? I've seen claims that owls have the most powerful grip for their size but I haven't seen research that backs that claim up.   |
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Post by Infinity Blade on Sept 3, 2023 7:31:48 GMT 5
Owls do have enlarged, more uniformly sized, and weakly curved talons to help maximize their grip strength, so I do think it's probably true. That said, this isn't a case of "eagles have weak feet while owls have strong feet", it's just a case of strong vs stronger (but when it comes to killing proportionately larger prey, eagles still seem to have the edge). theworldofanimals.proboards.com/post/48923 |
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Post by Supercommunist on Sept 3, 2023 10:27:45 GMT 5
Huh, maybe similar to how some animals sacrifice jaw strength for jaw gape, eagles give up a bit of power for additional "foot gape" though in this eagles are still strong enough to pierce bone. I still find it weird how owls strangle prey to death.
In regards to prey size, great horned owls are infamous for their ability to kill and eat other birds of prey. So while they are not taking very large prey compared to eagles they can take formidable animals.
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Post by Supercommunist on Sept 5, 2023 20:04:30 GMT 5
I know pharyngeal jaws are mostly used for feeding rather than hunting but I think it would have been cool if a gripping predator like abelisaurids had a second set of jaws with specalized flesh cutting teeth that when they could have the benefits of a crushing and a slicing bite.
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Post by Supercommunist on Sept 15, 2023 21:33:38 GMT 5
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Post by Infinity Blade on Sept 16, 2023 2:26:28 GMT 5
Holy shit that's metal. Depends on the exact killing method. If they're going for a quick immobilization of prey by severing the spinal cord, I think they would help.
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Post by Supercommunist on Sept 16, 2023 2:36:42 GMT 5
I guess there is the question of durablity. I suspect that beak notches are more frail than true teeth, so that could be an issue for an animal that deals with large prey.
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Post by Supercommunist on Nov 6, 2023 8:29:09 GMT 5
So as something not familiar with the permian period, how would you optimize the predators?
I assume gorgonopsid could benefit from having smilodon/xenosmilus style forelimbs or take a more endurance orientated homotherium approach.
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Post by Infinity Blade on Nov 6, 2023 20:49:34 GMT 5
So as something not familiar with the permian period, how would you optimize the predators? I assume gorgonopsid could benefit from having smilodon/xenosmilus style forelimbs or take a more endurance orientated homotherium approach. Gorgonopsids are already thought to have been powerful grapplers, although I suppose you could slap on some retractable claws just for good measure. I'm not sure how well a Homotherium-like mode of predation would work. The mammalian breathing system isn't as efficient as the unidirectional air flow of a dinosaur (or maybe even archosaur in general), but our diaphragm-based breathing system is more efficient than whatever condition preceded it. A gorgonopsid may need to evolve a way to improve its respiratory system, otherwise I'm not sure it can evolve to be an endurance-oriented pursuit predator. EDIT: Actually, maybe varanid-like gular breathing could work, if they can evolve it? |
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Post by Supercommunist on Mar 17, 2024 3:13:30 GMT 5
How would you design the ultimate ramming predator?
I would probably take a trevally/orca/livyatan shaped body and then just add a durable blunt protrusion on the end of their head/snout that they reduce recoil and increase damage but aren't at risk of trapping their weapon in another animals body.
For a ramming predator that slices I guess a barracuda with serratted teeth would work.
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Post by Supercommunist on Apr 16, 2024 6:35:21 GMT 5
Bit of a digression but I think its a point relevant to this thread. I know average joes are often guilty of treating animals like pokemon and assuming that some are inherently superior to others without considering the fact that some adaptations come with trades off. However, there do seem to be cases where traits are just straight up beneficial. For instance, anoles adapted for urban environments are better at climbing every type of surface than forest anoles. It's possible that their is some trade off like lower ground speed, but when it comes to climbing they are just straight up better. www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPAg7WBeE3M |
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