Re: Mononykus

[Dinogeorge@aol.com]

In a message dated 95-08-05 05:02:06 EDT, pwillis@ozemail.com.au (Paul
Willis) writes:

>What about classic gouldian spandrels? These are structures that appear only
>as relicts of the animals' ancestry, with no adaptive function.
>
>

Mononykus forelimbs ultimately were vestigial monodactyl wings, but they seem
too adaptively evolved (relatively massive claws, powerful olecranon
processes, etc.) not to have had some kind of function. I think they were way
too small to have been used for digging, however.

George O.