Re: JFC-Bloodiest Battle ??

[Michael Habib <mhabib5@jhmi.edu>]

> To return to a long abandoned thread, when the flight analysis of 
> Microraptor showed that the feather arrangement as preserved did  not 
> give the expected gliding path, re-examination of the feathers yielded 
> an arrangement that did give the expected path and was viewed as 
> success.  Maybe the new arrangement was correct, or maybe it just 
> satisfied expectations.  Maybe a much more vertical drop WAS the 
> hunting strategy of Microraptor and not too relevant to the origin of 
> flight.  Or maybe gliding developed from such a death from above 
> hunting technique.

Indeed - I think one of the primary weaknesses of that particular study 
was, in fact, the expectations.  Not so much the expectations of glide 
angle, but rather the idea that the hindlimbs must have been used in a 
static position as auxiliary "wings".  It's more likely, based on 
preserved positions and some basic aerodynamics, that the foils were 
used for braking and maneuvers (especially sharp turns).  Of course, my 
expectation might be wrong, too, but it highlights the fact that 
tunnel-vision is worrisome.  At the same time, Scott's earlier 
observation that we should keep ourselves constrained by the data at 
hand also follows.

Cheers,

--Mike H.


Michael Habib, M.S.
PhD. Candidate
Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
1830 E. Monument Street
Baltimore, MD 21205
(443) 280 0181
habib@jhmi.edu