RE: weird jurassic dinobird with very weird feathers

[Tim Williams <twilliams_alpha@hotmail.com>]

Jaime Headden wrote:


> would have a reduce tail, as if the extreme modification would be coincident 
> with pelvic modifications 
> due to anteriorized center of gravity; such do not appear to occur, and the 
> dorsal column reminds me of> compsognathids in being long and low, much 
> longer at least than the tibia by about 20%. 


Speaking generically for short-tailed non-avian theropods... a shorter tail may 
not necessarily result in an anteriorized center of gravity, if the gut was 
expanded to accommodate an herbivorous diet.  This appears to have been what 
happened in therizinosauroids, for example.  So the tail could get shorter, 
because the expanded viscera contributed more posterior 'ballast'.  



Cheers

Tim
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