Hey Mokele,[b said:Quote[/b] (Mokele @ July 20 2006,10:32)]
[b said:Quote[/b] ]Well, the idea is that the cold was a minor second problem, while the big issue was dust choking out the light and impeding photosynthesis. That would mean less plants, which would mean less herbivores, which means less carnivores...
When you hear it discussed it is most always put forth as the mother of all "Nuclear Winter" situations and I think most people feel that way, even the scientists. And yes it would be the double play of the dust cooling and blotting out the sun that would be the cause but I still don't buy it. Look at it this way, if you upset the lowest level of the food web then ALL the upper levels will feel it. KNock out the plants and yes you knock out the herbivores but not just the big one, you lose all the little ones too, like insects. You lose the insects and you lose the food supply for the smaller mammals and herps. You lose the small mammals and herps you lose the food for the larger mamals and herps... Ad infinitum. So again, why did the herps and smaller critters come out less scathed than the dinos??
[b said:Quote[/b] ]with the big things and the warm-blooded things (since both large size and high metabolism increase food requirements) being the first to starve
Actually that is not fully correct, there is not a linear increas in size and food intake. In fact most smaller warm bloods have to eat more than their own mass to maintain their body heat because their small size means they radiate the heat faster.
[b said:Quote[/b] ]Also, it's technically inaccurate to say that ectotherms survived unscatched; many species of crocodylians and other reptiles perished, including the pterosaurs and marine reptiles. They just didn't get screwed nearly as badly as the dinosaurs did.
I never said unscathed I said "more or less untouched" which is pretty accurate. Yes, some crocodiliads died off, but not all. Yes the pterosaurs died off however, 1) they were also considered to be warm blooded and 2) I group them in with the dinos as far as the extiction talk goes so they are on that side of the equation for me. As for the marine reptiles, data nowadays seems to indicate that they were dying off long before the meteor hit so while it might have done them in they were already on the way out.
[b said:Quote[/b] ]There is, of course, still debate. Other alternatives include Bakker's theory, volcanic eruptions, or disease.
Bakker's theory is the disease theory (unless he has come up with something new) and AFAIC the volcano theory is just slant on the meteor theory, lots of ash and smoke...
[b said:Quote[/b] ]It's complciated by the fact we've never directly witnessed a large asteroid strike on a rocky planet, thus must rely on historical evidence to infer the effects. Hopefully if that situation changes, it'll involve the moon or some rocky planet other than Earth.
I'll agree that it is complicated but I still thenk that people jump to "smoking gun" too soon.