Re: Dromaeosaur "sickle" claws

[Ronald Orenstein <ornstn@inforamp.net>]

At 01:30 PM 8/24/97 -0700, you wrote:
>Right on.  And I'd like to emphasize that my objection to the term
>"sickle" comes strictly from the implied connotation that it could CUT like
>a sickle, not it's shape.  (I think it's part of the hype attendant to
>Deinonychus).  

Just to point out that the term "sickle" is used to describe the bills of
certain birds (eg the Sickle-billed Vanga Falculea palliata of Madagascar
and the Sicklebills Eutoxeres [which are hummingbirds]) without any
implication that these bills have sharp cutting edges.  There are also
birds called "Scythebills", and they can't cut with their bills either.
--
Ronald I. Orenstein                           Phone: (905) 820-7886
International Wildlife Coalition              Fax/Modem: (905) 569-0116
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