Re: Triceratops sprawl

[ROBERT.J.MEYERSON@uwrf.edu (Rob Meyerson)]

>(big snip)The problem is this:  EVEN BIPEDAL 
>ORNITHISCHIANS HAD FORELIMBS MOUNTED DIRECTLY UNDER THE BODY.  
>Ceratopians would have had to evolve a sprawling posture deliberately, as 
>it were, because they inherited an erect forelimb posture from their 
>bipedal ancestors.

That's the point I am trying to make.  Ceratopians purposely evolved sprawling 
forelimbs to better cope with the paleenvironment of the Gobi (an arid 
environment with many dune fields).  When one considers how effective the 
ceratopian body plan was for efficent movement in the dunes, it makes perfect 
sense why they would evolve sprawling forelimbs, while leaving the hindlimbs 
vertical.  The dinosaurian equivalent of the dune buggy, if it were.

Rob
***
"Don't Panic."