while reading Colbert's book on Coleophysis...

[Betty Cunningham <bettyc@flyinggoat.com>]

While reading Colbert's book on Coleophysis, _The Little Dinosaurs of
Ghost Ranch_ I came up with a couple of questions (of course).

1) in one chapter Colbert describes the bones of the skull.  He refers
to the sclerotic rings and somehing called sclerotic ossicles found in
Coleophysis.  These are not decribed however.  Are these disks floating
near the sclerotic rings, disks ON the sclerotic rings, or disks in
association with the sclerotic rings but attached to the skull proper?

2) in discribing the function of sclerotic ossicles, Colbert says
several paleontologists have thought they have "a function in the
mechanism of accomodation".  What's that?

3) in the skull of Coelophysis there is an exaggerated notch of the
premaxilla (as in many theropods).  In different growth stages Colbert
indicates (a line drawing) that the notch is larger and more exaggerated
as an adult.  If the skull is as kinetic as Colbert emphasizes, why
wouldn't the juveniles have larger gaps between the portions of the
kinetic skull?  The bones of juveniles tend to not be fused and it
doesn't make sense to me that a bone gap (the notch) would be a bigger
gap in an adult than in a juvenile.

-Betty Cunningham

-- 
Flying Goat Graphics
http://www.flyinggoat.com
(Society of Vertebrate Paleontology member)
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