Thursday, December 07, 2006

The 20% rule

Cyberthrush writes:
That Ivory-bills could NOT survive without bark beetle larvae, without large first-growth trees, and on less than 6 square miles simply has never been shown, and is actually quite a leap of logic (Ivory-bills, being 15-20% larger than Pileateds, could likely make do with trees 20% larger than those used by Pileateds, and such trees are plentiful.)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Clearly just a linear problem. 20% bigger bird needs 20% bigger tree. Cyberthrush is just as clearly a genius of the first caliber.

Anonymous said...

20% bigger bird needs 20% bigger tree.

That's because IBWO's are 20% less flexible than pileateds. This is obvious from the sonic fingerprint of their distinctive calls, which indicates a more rigid diaphragm compared to the pileated.

Anonymous said...

Evidently Cyberthrush can think like an IBWO. That's because he has a brain that is 20% larger than a PIWO's.

Anonymous said...

Actually, the IBWO needs bugs that are 20% larger. Or it can just lay about more, conserving energy ... which appears to be what it's doing. Behind a tree, of course.