Post by meathead320 on Oct 18, 2009 16:29:47 GMT -5
My Dinosaur mating and egg laying theory.
Hopefully I am not stepping on anyone’s toes with this theory, as often if I think of a good idea someone else has already came up with it.
Anyhow, with large dinosaurs, especially bipedal theropods, and even the larger quadrupeds due to their colossal size, there is an issue with both egg laying and mating.
Now, we know they were able to successfully mate. They existed, therefor any problem associated with their physics, they had an answer to, and we can have conjecture as to how those problems were solved by natural selection.
The particular problem I see is with animals this large, it makes more sense that a lot of them would try to stay off the ground as much as possible, as their own weight could crush them if in the wrong position.
Females may have squatted down to lay eggs, but I imagine there was still some distance between the egg laying orifice and the ground.
Then there is the issue of mating, where the male mounts the female, and the physics could get very ugly with the added weight for the female. This could be very hazardous. This method of mating seems particularly difficult even when compared to elephants, as elephants as big as they are, are still slightly lighter than a T.Rex, have 4 legs to stand on, and do not have to contend with the big tail getting in the way. Then there is the issue of the genital area possibly having been at the front of the pelvic area, not the rear, and the legs being close together getting in the way of rear penetration by the male phalus, or similar organ.
Well they must have had a solution to this, as the did exist, for several million years or more before extinction.
So there is a theory already around (Walking With Dinosaurs BBC & Discovery Channel
) that there may have been an Ovipositor to get the eggs to the ground.
My theory is that this Ovipositor, if it existed, may have been a more complex organ, and also used for mating. Think of Female Hyena's, google them and their mating for more information.
Think of the Ovipositor of the female being not just a fleshy intestine like tube, but rather more specialized and advanced like an elephants trunk. This a musculature in tubule form, either on bottom or on top of the organ, that would even give it a decent degree of control and dexterity.
The organ of the male being similar, yet slightly more thin and with a smaller orifice (as eggs do not have to be passed through it).
Then the mating process would be similar to Hyenas. The female phallus like organ would literally grab and engulf the male’s like a sleeve. Almost like a vacuum pulling in semen into the uterus of the female.
The process may have been over in minutes and supplied the female with enough sperm to fertilize several dozen eggs to be layed soon after via the same orange she uses to mate, now used as an ovipositor.
When not in use these organs of the males and females could even be housed internally for protection.
This theory cleanly handles two problems, 1. Negotiating any need for the female to support the weight of a male like other animals, and 2. Getting those eggs safely to the ground.
Hopefully I am not stepping on anyone’s toes with this theory, as often if I think of a good idea someone else has already came up with it.
Anyhow, with large dinosaurs, especially bipedal theropods, and even the larger quadrupeds due to their colossal size, there is an issue with both egg laying and mating.
Now, we know they were able to successfully mate. They existed, therefor any problem associated with their physics, they had an answer to, and we can have conjecture as to how those problems were solved by natural selection.
The particular problem I see is with animals this large, it makes more sense that a lot of them would try to stay off the ground as much as possible, as their own weight could crush them if in the wrong position.
Females may have squatted down to lay eggs, but I imagine there was still some distance between the egg laying orifice and the ground.
Then there is the issue of mating, where the male mounts the female, and the physics could get very ugly with the added weight for the female. This could be very hazardous. This method of mating seems particularly difficult even when compared to elephants, as elephants as big as they are, are still slightly lighter than a T.Rex, have 4 legs to stand on, and do not have to contend with the big tail getting in the way. Then there is the issue of the genital area possibly having been at the front of the pelvic area, not the rear, and the legs being close together getting in the way of rear penetration by the male phalus, or similar organ.
Well they must have had a solution to this, as the did exist, for several million years or more before extinction.
So there is a theory already around (Walking With Dinosaurs BBC & Discovery Channel
) that there may have been an Ovipositor to get the eggs to the ground.
My theory is that this Ovipositor, if it existed, may have been a more complex organ, and also used for mating. Think of Female Hyena's, google them and their mating for more information.
Think of the Ovipositor of the female being not just a fleshy intestine like tube, but rather more specialized and advanced like an elephants trunk. This a musculature in tubule form, either on bottom or on top of the organ, that would even give it a decent degree of control and dexterity.
The organ of the male being similar, yet slightly more thin and with a smaller orifice (as eggs do not have to be passed through it).
Then the mating process would be similar to Hyenas. The female phallus like organ would literally grab and engulf the male’s like a sleeve. Almost like a vacuum pulling in semen into the uterus of the female.
The process may have been over in minutes and supplied the female with enough sperm to fertilize several dozen eggs to be layed soon after via the same orange she uses to mate, now used as an ovipositor.
When not in use these organs of the males and females could even be housed internally for protection.
This theory cleanly handles two problems, 1. Negotiating any need for the female to support the weight of a male like other animals, and 2. Getting those eggs safely to the ground.