Re: Dromaeosaur hand feathers

["Raymond Thaddeus C. Ancog" <rayancog@pacific.net.ph>]

After Darren Naish wrote...

>Onto some spin-off discussions, Ron has argued that maybe big, 
>predatory dromaeosaurids did not have remiges, as these might 
>have been fouled or broken in predatory strikes.

...

>Perhaps one solution is for the animal to fold the feathers back 
>along the arm, so that they are not fanning around in a sort of 
>cranial direction.

Or perhaps, as an alternative, the arms may have actually been covered with
scales. There are some snake-eating falconiforms (I forgot the species)
that have evolved thickly-scaled legs for protection from snake bites.
Perhaps arm scales could have served a similar protective function.


Raymond Thaddeus C. Ancog
Mines and Geosciences Bureau
Philippines