On 02.05.2011 05:47, Jason Brougham wrote:
I believe there was a discussion on this thread regarding the low energy content of a termite diet, and some question whether this could fuel a cursor. Does anyone know how energy expenditure scales with body size? Is there any chance that this was a factor in driving a trend toward smaller body size in advanced alvarezsaurs?
It may well be a factor in the extremely cursorial limb proportions of parvicursorines, which must have allowed very energy-efficient locomotion at any speed: femur long, tibia very long, metatarsus as long as in birds that walk from the knee instead of from the hip, metatarsus hyperarctometatarsal, toes short.