Re: Avian flight stroke origin

[Dann Pigdon <dannj@alphalink.com.au>]

On Mon, Aug 15th, 2011 at 11:05 AM, Tim Williams <tijawi@gmail.com> wrote:

> Jason Brougham <jaseb@amnh.org> wrote:
> > Goats, as we know, also climb trees without benefit of a hallux:
> >
> > http://www.odditycentral.com/videos/the-tree-goats-of-morocco.html
> 
> Ah, I wondered when we'd get to "But goats can climb trees!"  :-)
> 
> What we have here is the distinction between "capable of" and "adapted
> for".  At any given time on planet Earth, the vast majority of goats
> are not climbing trees, and have no desire to.  Just because an animal
> *can* climb a tree under certain circumstances does not make it
> arboreal.  Goats are *not* adapted for an arboreal lifestyle.

Goats however *are* well adapted for climbing - just not trees specifically. 
Their tree-climbing 
abilities are an extension of their rock-climbing prowess.

A Google search using the words 'dam goats' will demonstrate just how good 
Italian ibex are at 
climbing.

This might also be pertinent to the Archaeopteryx discussion. A generalised 
climber might not 
show any specific arborial adaptations (such as perching feet) if it is 
habitually scrambling up just 
about anything to gain height (cliffs, steep hills, dead sauropods...)

-- 
_____________________________________________________________

Dann Pigdon
Spatial Data Analyst               Australian Dinosaurs
Melbourne, Australia               http://home.alphalink.com.au/~dannj
_____________________________________________________________