[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index][Subject Index][Author Index]
Re: Ceratopsian leg position
>From: DAVEH47@delphi.com
> I've been reading the messages about leg position in ceratopsians
> and I had thought that the footprints had pointed towards an
> upright gait. Can anyone comment on this?
That depends on what you mean by "upright gait". The prints of
the front foot are *close* to the midline, just not quite as close
as the hind feet. (Also, the front feet point slightly outwards).
The difference is small - no more than half the width of the front
foot is further out than the the hind foot.
[I wish I could draw them here, to show what I mean].
This is NOT the typical lacertiform sprawling gait, but neither is
it a mammalian fully upright gait.
> I would also like
> anyone's opinion on Stephen and Sylvia Czerkas' idea on
> cereatopsian gait in which the feet are close together (as the
> footprints imply) but the legs themselves are still splayed out in
> lizard-fashion (as though the creature was bow-legged!).
>
Well, if the scapula is placed as some believe, a bow-legged position
is required to get the front feet as far in as they are observed
to have been in footprints.
swf@elsegundoca.attgis.com sarima@netcom.com
The peace of God be with you.