RE: Arms into wings

[Pharris Nicholas J <pharrinj@plu.edu>]

On Wed, 3 Mar 1999 TomHopp@aol.com wrote:

> In a message dated 3/3/99 5:18:39 AM, Tom Holtz th81@umail.umd.edu writes:
> 
> << as Padian & Gauthier showed back in 1985, the predatory
> strike of a eumaniraptoran forelimb uses the same basic movements in the
> same sequence as the flight stroke: it would be a synchronized movement. >>
> 
> So they're to blame for "predatory strike," which may well be a figment of
> their imaginations that has been propagated into near-gospel on this list? Oh
> . . . .
> 
> Maybe I'm a gadfly, but who the heck has ever seen a "predatory strike?"

Anyone who's ever observed a praying mantis, for one!

I imagine the strike of non-avian maniraptoran theropods as being similar
to this, the arms folded against the body, bird-style, until the moment of
the strike, which, as Dr. Tom noted, was accomplished in one swift,
coordinated move.

Nick Pharris
Pacific Lutheran University
Tacoma, WA 98447
(253)535-7045