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Re: Parahongshanornis, new Chinese Cretaceous bird (free pdf)
- To: dinosaur@usc.edu
- Subject: Re: Parahongshanornis, new Chinese Cretaceous bird (free pdf)
- From: Tim Williams <tijawi@gmail.com>
- Date: Wed, 1 Jun 2011 18:45:47 +1000
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David Marjanovic <david.marjanovic@gmx.at> wrote:
> That's the 2nd finger. That's normal.
True. But what's not normal about _Patagopteryx_ is that (a) the 2nd
phalanx of the 2nd fnger is the longest, and (b) the wings were not
used for flight.
> I agree, though, that somebody should do a biomechanical study of the
> forelimbs of *Patagopteryx* (which I'm not confusing with *Patagonykus* this
> time).
At a glance, _Patagopteryx_'s two-handed grasping abilities don't seem
much worse than those of certain non-avian theropods, like
caudipterygids.
Cheers
Tim