Re: The absurdity, the absurdity (was: Cooperating theropods?)

[sankarah@ou.edu]

Jeffrey Martz wrote:
> 
> > I just can't see a reason to think it's that remote, though.  Those
> > claws couldn't have been used for anything other than slicing (they're
> > too well designed for that role),
> 
>      Are they?

Looking at what I wrote, I should have said "piercing" instead of
slicing.  They'd be bad for slicing, I think, but good for piercing.
 
>     Dave suggested that the fact the claws were curved made it easier for
> them to slash, because claw could be swung down and the edge could slide
> along flesh as it penetrated.
>      Okay, so now what?  The dromeosaur has its claws nicely dug in, and
> maybee it has made a short little owie in the side of the prey from the
> little bit of slicing the claw did on the way in.  They prey is still a
> long way from being disembowled; the cut needs to be continued.  How is
> this accomplished?  The edge on the claw isn't that long.

True.  I think a decent tactic might be to pierce again and again,
leaving the prey to die from blood loss.  This would be doable with
medium sized prey like your smaller hadrosaurs, particularly if lots of
individuals are doing it.

>      Does the dromeosaur saw its foot back and forth? It is going to have
> to rotate the claw back every time it pulls out to keep to tip from
> snagging.  So it meticulosly works its way down the side of the prey like
> a can opener... keep in mind that all this time the prey probably is
> trying to make it stop.
>      One might make the suggestion that the dromeosaur doesn't slice at
> all, but presses down using body weight and kicking force in place of
> slicing to facilitate the cut. Again, I think this is underestimating the
> toughness of scaley skin and muscle, and overestimating the sort of edge a
> claw made of keratin could keep from even a little bit of cutting, even
> assuming it was honed razor sharp to begin with.

I agree, slicing per se wouldn't work.  Lots of stab wounds would be
much more effective, however.

>      Try cutting through the meat fibers of steak or chicken with various
> sorts of knives in various sorts of ways.  Try pressing down with the edge
> of a really sharp knive without slicing, see how hard and long you have to
> draw the blade to slice through a one inch thick peice of meat with one
> stroke.  Try a butter knife.  Try thinking about using a recurved blade
> for that purpose that is made out of keratin, not steel.

OTOH, try punching a heavy knife with a dull edge and a decent point
through kevlar.  It's not too tough, and it can do a lot of damage even
without slicing/disembowelling/whatever.

>       Dromeosaur claws are a good design for penetrating, but probably not
> for slashing; or at least making a large enough cut to disembowl.

Yes, I agree.  They're very well designed for penetrating and
withdrawing; very bad for most everything else.

Chris