RE: Thoughts on the new Czerkas book (long)

["Williams, Tim" <TiJaWi@agron.iastate.edu>]

Dann Pigdon wrote:

>Could juvenile dromies have spent more time in the trees (taking short
> fluttering leaps to capture small prey like insects), and then grow out
> of both habitual climbing and "flying" as adults? Sickle claws could
> have gone from being climbing aids for juveniles to predatory aids in
> adults. 

Dann, I think you're onto something...  Incidentally, Greg Paul in DA
mentioned that juvie theropods may have been more scansorial than adults,
using modern lacertilians as a template.

> Alternatively, fully volant avians could be pedomorphic theropods,
> retaining juvenile characteristics (big heads, large eyes, flight) into
> adulthood and thus being permanently volant.

In a little-known paper published in New Zealand, Tony Thulborn advanced a
similar hypothesis back in 1985.  I have some further ideas on this, but I
can't say more...



Tim