Plotopterids

["Habib, Michael" <MHabib@Chatham.edu>]

Greetings DMLers,

A bit of shameless plug, but it's relevant to transitions in locomotor mode in 
birds, and therefore likely of interest to many on the list:

Dyke GJ, Wang X, Habib MB, 2011 Fossil Plotopterid Seabirds from the 
Eo-Oligocene of the Olympic Peninsula (Washington State, USA): Descriptions and 
Functional Morphology. PLoS ONE 6(10): e25672. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0025672

Here is the link: 
http://www.plosone.org/article/citationList.action?articleURI=info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0025672

The paper includes a relatively simple biomechanical analysis of plotopterid 
long bone geometry, and considers ramifications for locomotion.

Cheers,

--Mike H.


Michael Habib
Assistant Professor of Biology
Chatham University
Woodland Road, Pittsburgh PA  15232
Buhl Hall, Room 226A
mhabib@chatham.edu
(443) 280-0181