Tim writes:

>Most probably there's a drive to giantism built into life.

Not only is there evidence of a "drive to giganticism" built into
life, there's
even a name for the process: Cope's Rule.

However, the "rule" is highly debated. As good a short explanation of the
alternatives appears in this short letter to Nature:

http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v365/n6448
/abs/365748a0.html

For a more complete discussion of the discussion, please see:

Brown, J.H. and B.A. Maurer.  1986.  Body size, ecological dominance, and
Cope's rule.  Nature 324: 248-250.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find an on-line copy of the paper. However, I did
find this Brazilian paper (in English) that continues the discussion:

http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0034-7108200100010
0002&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en

Wirt Atmar
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