It is easy to understand, without going into the maths why terrestrial
animals of a certain type cannot continue to grow in size indefinitely.
A cat the size of an elephant would have legs that were far too slender
to support its weight. I think we know this intuitively, perhaps from
the experiences of early childhood.
Young children often test the objects around them to, or past, the
limits of destruction and so learn about mechanical properties !
For aquatic animals this limitation seems to me less clear. Someone who
was an expert on the fish in the rivers of the highlands of Scotland
once told me that there was no limit to their size. How big they were
just depended on how much food they could find.
I don't remember asking him for illustrations , and it was long ago, he
may have been speaking about one particular species
************************************************** ********
Email -
Geoffrey.Walsh@ed.ac.uk
http://www.ed.ac.uk/~gwalsh
Phone (0)131.664.3046
64, Liberton Drive,
Edinburgh
EH16 6NW
U.K.
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animals of a certain type cannot continue to grow in size indefinitely.
A cat the size of an elephant would have legs that were far too slender
to support its weight. I think we know this intuitively, perhaps from
the experiences of early childhood.
Young children often test the objects around them to, or past, the
limits of destruction and so learn about mechanical properties !
For aquatic animals this limitation seems to me less clear. Someone who
was an expert on the fish in the rivers of the highlands of Scotland
once told me that there was no limit to their size. How big they were
just depended on how much food they could find.
I don't remember asking him for illustrations , and it was long ago, he
may have been speaking about one particular species
************************************************** ********
Email -
Geoffrey.Walsh@ed.ac.uk
http://www.ed.ac.uk/~gwalsh
Phone (0)131.664.3046
64, Liberton Drive,
Edinburgh
EH16 6NW
U.K.
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To unsubscribe send UNSUBSCRIBE BIOMCH-L to LISTSERV@nic.surfnet.nl
For information and archives: http://www.bme.ccf.org/isb/biomch-l
-------------------------------------------------------------------