uncinate processes, function?

[david peters <davidrpeters@earthlink.net>]

I checked the archives of the list, but looks like the answer to this question 
was left hanging (correct me if I'm wrong), but apparently there's no consensus 
yet regarding the function of uncinate processes in everything from 
Ichthyostega and Sphenodon to emus and hummingbirds.

I'm playing around with a Tuatara figure and I was struck by the dorsally 
convex curvature of the spine. 

Wondering if that's what uncinate processes support? Are the two characters 
associated in every case?

??

David Peters
St. Louis