Birdie ribs

[Jeff Poling <jpoling@dinosauria.com>]

   While looking at the reconstruction of _Titanius_ in the latest
_Discover_? magazine, a question crossed my mind.  A loooooong time ago
there was a discussion on the List about uncinate processes.  If memory
serves, they are the braces between the ribs up near the vertebrae, yes?

   I ask this because when I was looking at the skeleton I noticed that
_Titanius_ has ribs that are jointed near the end, giving them a bit of an L
shape with the bottom-right end of the L connected to the sternum, I thought
briefly that these were the uncinate processes.

   This condition piqued my curiosity.  Is this condition an extention and
modification of the ribs?  Are they exaptions of gastralia?  Is there a name
for these little ribs, if separate from the main thoracid ribs?

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