UNCINATES, FIGHTING RAPTORS, DEEP TROUBLE...

["D.W.Naish" <dwn194@soton.ac.uk>]

Just call me 'Zippy'..... I'll go lie down now..
Oh yeah, thanks Gareth. Last time I lend you any money...

Well, avoiding any possible academic wounding, I'll just try and tidy up some
threads I irresponsibly darned.

UNCINATES

So sphenodontids have uncinates eh? That's fascinating - does anybody know if
any other tetrapods have them? I said that they were evident in the 'fighting'
V. mongoliensis - they can be seen on page 209 of 'Hunting Dinosaurs' by Louie
Psihoyos. There is another photo published in some other new book somewhere, 
the fossils can be seen head on, and the uncinates are extremely clear there 
too. 

FIGHTING RAPTORS

The fighting Protoceratops individual is definitely male, and according to Tim
Gardom and Angela Milner in 'The Natural History Museum Book of Dinosaurs',
"just below the bodies was a nest of Protoceratops eggs, perhaps the V. was
caught in the act of robbery...". So why are a P. and a V. fighting near a nest
of P. eggs? Might this suggest that at least some 'Protoceratops' eggs are
Protoceratops eggs after all? (Rather than all being oviraptorid).
Incidenatally, Protoceratops-type eggs have been called 'Elongatoolithus'.

UNCINATES AND THE AVIALAE

I suggested that uncinates might be a feature of dromaeosaurids + avialians.
Well this is obviously wrong seeing as they're found in other tetrapods (see
above). Also, they are not found throughout avialians anyway as Archaeopteryx,
and apparently also Mononykus and Sinornis (others possibly also), lack them.
So how come they're in dromaeosaurs but not basal avialians? Wierd. Can anyone
explain this?

SNEAKY EGG LAYERS

Troodon eggs were found in an Orodromeus nesting colony some time ago. But 
were Troodon eggs actually found within Orodromeus nests?

1) Tyrannosaurus rex
2) Othnielia rex
3) Edmarka rex
4) Baleaniceps rex

Does anyone know any more 'rexes'?

"He says he doesn't like you.... I don't like you either!"

DARREN 'nothing against John Ostrom at all' NAISH
dwn194@soton.ac.uk