Re: Emus a Model for Dinosaurs?

[David Marjanovic <david.marjanovic@gmx.at>]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Skrepnick" <palaeopaint@dinosaursinart.com>
Sent: Saturday, October 28, 2006 8:06 AM

> So if the point of attachment of m.caudofemoralis along the length of
> femoral shaft affects either speed or power of retraction depending upon
> placement, what purpose does the trochanter itself serve other than more
> surface area for muscle attachment or subtle change in leverage. . .
> further, as Deinonychus and Velociraptor do share similar overall
> morphology, what mechanical advantage is gained by the addition of a
> trochanter in the smaller form?

Not that I knew any myology... the description of the pelvis and hindlimbs 
of *Saturnalia* says the caudifemoralis did not insert on the 4th trochanter 
but medial to it, while the trochanter itself was the attachment point for 
something else, IIRC the gastrocnemius. Of course this would still not 
explain the difference between *Deinonychus* and *Velociraptor*.