Re: DINOSAUR digest 638

[Martin Human <martin@hpentccl.grenoble.hp.com>]

Jaime A. Headden

>  Dromaeosaurs, it seems, may not have been the great runners they have 
>been made to be in the past, it's been said (not saying it's true). The 
>long tail is quite stiff, and seems to have had one major purpose: to 
>stick out.

Perhaps dumb, certainly uninformed:

What are kangaroo tails like, they're pretty stiff aren't they? Can we
not suppose that stiff-tailed-ness is perhaps an indicator of a high
speed jumper rather than a runner? Can we see if there is a max size
cut-off for stiff-tailed forms? 

I do not see these posing an agility problem for a predator either.
Kangaroos are pretty agile, from the films I've seen. Which brings me
into the wonderful analysis of T-rex dynamics by Nicholas Wren: I have
to remind myself that whatever the problems, these animals were pretty
good at solving them %^)

cheers, martin