http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOPVVdg8noc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7Xs428faJA&mode=related&search=
While watching these, you can't help but imagine dromaeosaurs doing something similar in self defense or against each other in battles for mates/territory. While dramaeosaurs may not have had claws sharp enough to cut through muscle, they still would've been able to deliver painful and deep lacerations by dragging the tip of the claw through the skin, and a kick to the throat would've been fatal.
You often hear about cassowaries disemboweling other animals, but I was only able to find one documented case of a cassowary killing a human, and that was a 16 year old boy who was killed when his carotid artery was severed by a kick. There are stories of cassowaries gutting dogs, but dogs are much smaller than a cassowary; I imagine dromaeosaurs would have been able to disembowel smaller prey just as easily. You may notice with the second video that the claw itself is actually surprisingly dull and straight, while a dromaeosaur claw had a very sharp tip, which would have made it more effective for cutting and stabbing than a cassowary's almost conical claw.
Simeon Koning
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The MSN Entertainment Guide to Golden Globes is here. Get all the scoop. http://tv.msn.com/tv/globes2007/?icid=nctagline2
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