That's a darn good point. Fair enough - then I suppose the pathway to reduction merely *maintained* the supinated condition, which means far less. No explanation needed, after all.
> On Mar 25, 2017, at 10:19 AM, David Marjanovic <david.marjanovic@gmx.at> wrote:
>
> Gesendet: Freitag, 24. März 2017 um 07:50 Uhr
> Von: "Mike Habib" <biologyinmotion@gmail.com>
>
>> it may be worth considering if the supinated forelimb anatomy in dinosaurs was mostly a side effect of the specific pathway they took for forelimb reduction.
>
> To have the forelimbs locked in a supinated position is plesiomorphic. Crocodiles have this condition, *Acanthostega* has it. It is actually hard to get rid of while staying quadrupedal. Its persistence in theropods certainly rules out certain hypotheses on what theropod forelimbs were used for before flying became fashionable, but it doesn't itself require an explanation.
Cheers,
--Mike
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