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They all died, male and female alike, but a higher percent of the males left behind fossils. Meaning getting yourself killed is only part of the equation. The o
by celrod 6y ago
They all died, male and female alike, but a higher percent of the males left behind fossils. Meaning getting yourself killed is only part of the equation. The other part is that the manner in which you get yourself killed has to increase the odds of fossilization.
Maybe an elephant in musth chasing rhinos pays less attention to where it's going and accidentally get itself trapped in a tar pit.
- trianglem 6y agoThe females probably all died together in a group and are less dispersed so are harder to find. Obvious conjecture.
- tachyonbeam 6y agoCould also have something to do with age at time of death and bone composition.
- barkingcat 6y agoOr there are biochemical processes that prefer preservation of male specimens, for example the prehistoric version of male hormones acting as a preservative, or perhaps the prehistoric version of the female horomone acting as a cue for insects or decomposers in the ecosystem to consume the carcass etc.
- IgorPartola 6y agoBigger bones with higher calcium content? Or higher ratio of calcium to something else? But I can also totally buy that it’s mostly a function of where they die. Like dying in a bog might preserve the bones differently than dying in a forest or by a lake or whatever.
- Gibbon1 6y agoWomen probably more likely to die in childbirth or with a group of family members and end up being properly buried. I think most soils aren't conductive to preservation. Thus anyone given proper funeral rites wont end up as a fossil.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]