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Re: Perching, climbing, roosting was Re: 11th specimen of Archaeopteryx
- To: dinosaur@usc.edu
- Subject: Re: Perching, climbing, roosting was Re: 11th specimen of Archaeopteryx
- From: Tim Williams <tijawi@gmail.com>
- Date: Sat, 12 Nov 2011 11:14:10 +1100
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Robert Schenck <schenck.rob@gmail.com> wrote:
> I like to keep the goats-in-trees image in mind, because it reminds us
> that animals don't allways do what we say they're 'allowed' to do, and
> because, no matter how many goats we see in trees, they're still NOT
> arboreally adapted. You'd be a crazy person to look at a goat fossil
> and say, 'yep, foraged in trees'. You'd be /correct/, but still crazy.
I really wish you *wouldn't* keep the "goats-in-trees" image in mind
when you think about dinosaurs. Goats are well adapted for climbing
trees. We've been over this umpteen times. Their tree-climbing
abilities are an extension of their highly refined rock-climbing
abilities, which entails gaining purchase on narrow and uneven
substrates.
So knowing this, you wouldn't have to be a crazy person to look at a
goat fossil and say, "Yep, foraged in trees".
Cheers
Tim