Re: Forelimbs of "Terror Birds"

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

"Williams, Tim" wrote:

> It reminds me of one current suggestion for the mini-forelimbs of
> tyrannosaurids: that they were used to clasp large prey close to the
> predator's chest, after the jaws and feet had subdued the prey.
> 
> There is also Newton's suggestion (not mutually exclusive) that the
> forelimbs were used by males as claspers during copulation.
> 

Then there is my suggesting (it may not be original): that the forelimbs
weren't used much at all in adults, but that they were relatively larger
in juveniles. An adult tyrannosaur could pretty much rely on that
awesome mouth. Juveniles, who may have had quite different hunting
strategies while small (as with Komodo monitors), may have used their
relatively larger forelimbs to a greater degree.

I even created a morphed sequence to illustrate the idea. You can see it
at:

http://www.alphalink.com.au/~dannj/temp/trexgrow.gif

Note that this isn't based on any actual research on my part. Just a
"what if". I'd be interested to see whether actual fossil evidence for
very young (ie. 1 metre long) tyrannosaurs contradicts it (that is to
say, HOW it contradicts the hypothetical juvenile. I'm fairly confident
it WILL.)

-- 
________________________________________________________________

Dann Pigdon                   Australian Dinosaurs:
GIS Archaeologist           http://www.geocities.com/dannsdinosaurs
Melbourne, Australia        http://www.alphalink.com.au/~dannj/
________________________________________________________________