Personal Fawning of Phylogenetic Bracketing

[Smiley Face]
The perception of Velociraptors hunting in packs is ridiculous. It may be true... but the logic process is utterly ridiculous. First, diminish any view you may have in Jurassic Park, because these guys are small and gracile. Now look at how pack-structure competition works. An essential requirment must be met, that individual members of the pack have increased reproductive fitness than those outside the pack. However, they must still compete with fellow pack members for food and mating at the same time. As such, we would expect animals that are evolved to handle competition. If necessary, look at extant pack animals. Hyeneas, Wolves, Lions, all are heavy, aggressive animals, much larger than their non-pack relatives. This is particularly evident in Lions, as they are the only pack cats, and the largest, both today and yesterday (American Lions were much bigger, by up to 20%). This is because the animals must be competitive to increase reproductive fitness... for there is a social element in addition to biological. Lions are known for their staggering amount of infanticide resulting from competing males. These animals must be aggressive and robust to survive competition from each other. Even vulters, members of the Dinosauria, feed in groups, and have evolved robust wings to push competing vultures away. The increased food supply resulting from cooperation has a cost, increased competition from your member-species.

Does Velociraptor, or Troodon, or Pyroraptor, or any other small dromaeosaurs exhibit these robust characteristics? No. Instead of being robust and able to fend of attacks from other animals, they are weak and slender. I know this first hand after working on the WDC's Velociraptor specimen, a very slender body, it's legs designed for speed. Nothing about this animal suggests strength, everything points to more cheetah-like hunting, stab, stab; squirt squirt.

Conjectural? Yes. But that's the way the human mind thinks.

[frowny face]
i've been trying to modify the lowell offering saga to include ideas on evolution as the american society falls apart' but i think this would bring up images of social darwinism rather than show human society as an adaptation to the environment. also, if it is in screenplay format (which it currently is, twice over-ish), then it simply cannot be done. perhaps it should be a book, as it was designed all along. however, so much of it is rooted in sight and sound... i just don't know how to write to portray such things to accurately reflect what's going on in my head. but i don't want to be some unknown, isolated writer more concerned with what's going on in his head than what's going on in the world. such isolation is hardly to be desired, at least for what i want.

i have integrated the structure of myth into the series in an explicit manner, however. i am now breaking it into 6 parts, in addition to isolating individual books by the season of year. the first and last parts will be weighted, and the entire work will encompass roughly 35 - 40 years. might be enough to get my lofty and as yet lucid point across. however, such labors are by all intents and purposes personal.

anyway, not much else. maybe simulacra should be given and not sold. a total whore's work, not a dime of money invested or taken from it. it would be perfect in a completely ironic way.