Re: Sharovipteryx

[Dann Pigdon <dannj@alphalink.com.au>]

Dinogeorge@aol.com wrote:
> 
> It >looks like< a prehensile tail, doesn't it? Does that mean it was such in
> an arboreal environment? Perhaps it was used to anchor Drepanosaurus or
> Megalancosaurus in a stream bed so the animal would not be carried out of
> control downstream. Likewise for its other adaptations; perhaps they had
> nothing to do with arboreality. Until we see a living Megalancosaurus going
> about its business, we won't know for sure.

Precisely. The Australian Betong (a very small macropod) has a
prehensile tail, that it uses to gather nesting material. I doubt it
could climb well if it tried. At the other end of the macropod climbing
spectrum, tree kangaroos lack prehensile tails entirely. I doubt anyone
could identify tree kangaroos as arborial if they were known solely from
fossil remains.

-- 
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        Dann Pigdon
        GIS Archaeologist
        Melbourne, Australia

        Australian Dinosaurs:
        http://home.alphalink.com.au/~dannj
        http://www.geocities.com/dannj.geo
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