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Re: BBC Planet Dinosaur



One big anatomical oversight is that the primary feathers on Microraptor and 
Sinornithosaurus attach to the third, rather than second, finger. And the wings 
don't fold so great. The Epidendrosaurus without feathers is a bummer.

But overall I think there is a lot to like with these reconstructions. At least 
they are lively little fellows.


On Sep 23, 2011, at 4:31 PM, Habib, Michael wrote:

> 
> On Sep 23, 2011, at 2:03 PM, K Kripchak wrote:
> 
>> ...seeing Microraptor and Sinornithosaurus reconstructed as gliding animals 
>> was,
>> for lack of a better word, silly...  They looked silly. A waste of bio
>> material. Not one arm flap... not one... Just a lot of scampering up
>> trees and jumping into the air like lemurs or flying squirls with
>> outstretched arms to glide from tree to tree. It didn't look right at
>> all.
>> 
>> Like I said, pointless observation in terms of science... but I tell
>> ya... it just didn't look right.
> 
> Having managed to get some stills from the series, I am at least happy to see 
> that the Microraptor model doesn't use an extreme sprawl in the hind limbs.  
> However, they hindfoils do seem undersized and the limb position is still a 
> bit odd, so I think the animators may have struggled with the hindfoil 
> situation a bit.  Still, a lot better than just about any other 
> reconstruction currently available in that regard.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> --Mike H.
> 
> 
> Michael Habib
> Assistant Professor of Biology
> Chatham University
> Woodland Road, Pittsburgh PA  15232
> Buhl Hall, Room 226A
> mhabib@chatham.edu
> (443) 280-0181
> 

Jason Brougham
Senior Principal Preparator
American Museum of Natural History
jaseb@amnh.org
(212) 496 3544