4/17/2024 0 Comments Predator vs prey skull![]() Allen Fish, Department of Animal Science My thanks to Monica for shaking off her own cloak of objectivity and delivering a truly novel account of humans in the food chain. No special pedestal here, merely a species as apt to provide daily nutrition for a bulky-winged, thick-taloned eagle as any squirrel, snake, or pigeon. Rather, Monica writes about man the edible. In “Seize the Prey,” Monica Stupaczuk runs right over this paradox and tells an entirely fresh story, not about man the objective, not about man the thinker, the watcher, nor even the conqueror. And yet we are still instructed from an early age to act like objective observers, to be non-participatory watchers in the magnificent community of species. We are as mysterious in our behaviors, our ecology, and in our evolution as any other animal species. We are intricately connected to the earth’s cycles and ecosystems. Here is our most basic self–the furless, baby-headed primate. Instructor’s Comment: One of the hardest lenses for a scientific essay is that of the human animal. It is fascinating to think that defining human characteristics and other traits we express today may be the retained products of predation events that occurred thousands to millions of years ago. I demonstrate the impacts this force likely had on the evolution of the human species and continues to have on other primates. I wanted to turn around this relationship by exploring the effects raptors may have had on early hominids via predation. As a Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology Major, I quite often hear about the effects that humans have on wildlife. ![]() But given a world where humans seem to be increasingly separated from nature and the selective force of predation, I knew I wanted to explore the interactions between nature and culture. ![]() It had a long thin head, weak jaw, and slender light-weight body, These features are far more suitable for hunting smaller prey and using speed instead of brute strength.Writer’s Comment: Having the freedom to write on any raptor-related topic for AVS 115 (Raptor Biology), I had a hard time deciding on a topic with so many possibilities available. However, the tyrannosaur Alioramus altai, from Mongolia, had a body unlike other members of the family. ![]() These probably helped deal with impacts from struggling prey and provided enough power to crush bone. Tyrannosaurids generally have robust strong skulls, massive jaws and heavy chunky bodies.This claw may have been used to pierce or hold on to prey. It also had a specialised claw on the second toe that it held off the ground when walking. This species had many bird-like characteristics, including long arms, feathers and a wishbone. There is no evidence that it hunted in packs, although some if its close relatives did. One fossil specimen from Mongolia preserves an individual locked in combat with its presumed prey Protoceratops. Velociraptor mongoliensis was a small and agile meat-eater.Whether this helped in attacking prey or leaping among tree branches is difficult to say. It was probably adapted for leaping as its rigid tail acted as a counterbalance, allowing pinpoint accuracy and freeing the powerful feet claws. Sinornithosaurus was an active and agile species that may have hunted in groups.A mass burial of over a dozen of these dinosaurs suggests they may have lived in packs. Coelophysis bauri was a small theropod with a slender, lightweight skeleton and very long tail, for speed and agility in attack.This may have helped them prey on large sauropods. Some theropods like Albertosaurus and Giganotosaurus possibly attacked with a ‘bite and slice’ technique rather than going for an outright kill.
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