Re: Brachiosaur Defense

["Larry Febo" <larryf@capital.net>]

-----Original Message-----
From: Jaime A. Headden <qilongia@yahoo.com>
To: dinosaur@usc.edu <dinosaur@usc.edu>
Cc: larryf@capital.net <larryf@capital.net>; mbonnan@hotmail.com
<mbonnan@hotmail.com>
Date: Saturday, January 29, 2000 9:19 PM
Subject: Re: Brachiosaur Defense

>
>  I'm sure a proper clarification of the functional
>locomotor possibilities suggested by arctometatarsaly
>in the pes of some maniraptoriform theropods is best
>described in Holtz (1994a) only briefly recapped by
>Hutchinson and Padian (1997).
>
>  Holtz, T.R., Jr. 1994a. The arctometatarsalian pes,
>an unusual structure of the metatarsus of Cretaceous
>Theropoda (Dinosauria: Saurishcia). _JVP_ 14: 480-519.
>
>  Hutchinson, J.R. and Padian, K. 1997.
>Arctometatarsalia. p. 24-27. (in Currie and Padian
>(eds.) _The Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs_ [Academic
>Press]).
>
>  Larry, you have one, but you should really get the
>other if you don't have it.
>


Thanks for the ref. Jaime. On reading it a third time, (things take a bit
longer to sink in than they used to!),I see that Dr. Holtz interprets it
more as a force transducing structure.....(a shock absorber?). But, before
risking further misinterpretation, perhaps I`d better wait to get the
details straight from the horse`s mouth....(hopefully when he trots back to
the office Mon morning ).
PS, do any modern birds have this condition? Or are the metatarsals totally
fused?