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Re: Alvarezsaurid arms was Re: JFC-Bloodiest Battle ??



Then again, maybe they are used in locomotion. They could function like a tree surgeon's boot spike to hold onto the bark of trees while climbing.

Dan

Dann Pigdon wrote:
There is of course always the possibility that Alvarezsaur forelimbs weren't used for feeding behaviours at all. It's possible they were used primarily for intraspecific wrestling matches, like an archosaurian kangaroo.

Fighting for social dominance or access to mates can be just as important as eating - in fact sometimes more important. Antechinus males expend so much energy fighting other males and mating with females (for up to twelve hours at a time!) that they don't have enough time to eat properly, and so rarely live as long as a year. They even go as far as supressing their immune system and converting vital proteins into food so as to maximise their short-term energy output.