On Mon, 26 Jan 2004, Julie Alipaz wrote: > there are two schools of thought 1) females are the bigger because of > reproductive issues. They must feed a brood--take bigger prey, they > must incubate the clutch--bigger = more body heat. that said, they > also believe 2) that it is a historical artifact of early avian > divergence. But the first theory gets more respect. I'm trying to understand why 1) wouldn't apply more generally in predators. Would this mean female raptors are scraping at the upper range of useful size, and male raptors are less likely to starve or break wings or graze trees by accident or something? I guess birds have a more difficult design job than say cats... I think Loiosh says Rocza is a better flier since she's bigger...