Re:Re: Jurassic Park 4 Script Review

[Tim Williams <twilliams_alpha@hotmail.com>]

Ken Carpenter wrote:

> > I don't think there's any doubt that dromie claws were specialized for 
> > grasping and
> > slashing prey.
>
> Actually, there is a lot of doubt about that by dinosaur paleontologist. It 
> is a topic discussed in a new BBC dinosaur program currently under 
> development. Although we do not have the keratinous sheath, the overall 
> morphology indicates a lack of "razor-sharp" edge.

I had the hand-claws in mind when I wrote that the claws were designed for 
grasping prey - probably in a two-armed, encircling fashion where dromies 
are concerned.

> The report of cassowaries disemboweling the prey (cited by Ostrom) is not 
> due to a slashing of the claw, but the ripping effect of the bird's mass 
> behind the claw. Little Velociraptor had little mass for a cassowary-style 
> slashing.

The alternative explanation (I think this was in Carpenter's Gaia paper) was 
that the "sickle-claw" was used to slash across the throat of the prey, 
rather than to disembowel the prey (as proposed by Ostrom).  The former 
strike requires a lot less 'heft' on the part of the predator.



Tim

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