Re: Dilophosaurus Forelimb Bone Maladies

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

On Fri, Feb 26th, 2016 at 12:44 PM, Tim Williams <tijawi@gmail.com> wrote:

> The authors propose that during the long healing period, the use of
> the forelimbs by this smashed-up _Dilophosaurus_  was severely
> compromised.  But it wasn't fatal.  This supports the interpretation
> that theropod forelimbs were not all that useful for predation - even
> when the forelimbs were healthy and undamaged.  Although often quite
> strong and/or robust, theropod forelimbs had limited reach and the
> manus often had fairly mediocre grasping abilities (especially for
> small theropods that were supposedly arboreal).  So it's no surprise
> (to me) that so many theropods reduced their forelimbs (carnotaurines
> effectively lost them altogether), or turned them to other purposes,
> such as display or locomotion (with display perhaps leading into
> aerial locomotion in a couple of lineages).

The forelimbs of Dilophosaurus would seem to have been better suited for use in 
predation than their fragile-looking skulls and head crests.

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Dann Pigdon
Spatial Data Analyst               Australian Dinosaurs
Melbourne, Australia               
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__home.alphalink.com.au_-7Edannj&d=CwIDAw&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=x82f3Wlkwtmbr1z8IAt9jA&m=I1K4rqulp9HH-jM_cp0WiqlCxsB88M5apvQS5U05f14&s=JIeTzvbj-7vBZr6fzB2zIKArCTI32k2JBq5T0Kkt3GI&e=
 
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