Re: Mononykus

[pwillis@ozemail.com.au (Paul Willis)]

>>
>>What was the use of the foreclaws?
>
>There is a graduate student at Yale who is working on this particular
>problem.  I don't know what her hypotheses are yet.
>
>Suggestions I've heard so far are: 1) burrowing (seems way too small for
>that); 2) prying open bark to get at insects (not bad, but kind of odd for a
>desert beast); or 3) preening feathers.  I'm sure others can post additional
>suggestions.
>

What about classic gouldian spandryls? That is structures that appear only
as a relict of the animals ancestry with no adaptive funbction.

Cheers, Paul

pwillis@ozemail.com.au