On 8/13/2011 12:00 PM, Jason Brougham wrote:
That may be, but Greg Paul never actually depicted Archaeopteryx climbing like a Hoatzin, did he? When he depicts Archaeopteryx in a tree, like in Figure 9-3, page 212, of Predatory dinosaurs of the World, he shows it standing on a limb like a Chachalaca, and I think this is a conservative depiction that stands up to everything we've learned about Archaeopteryx since.
Also -- cycads like Sago Palms appear to be both easy to climb and easy to stay in once climbed -- maybe all trees do not require noticeably specialized feet.