Re: DINOSAUR digest 1272

[WILLIAM PARKER <wgp@dana.ucc.nau.edu>]

Do Komodo Dragons or other carnivorous herps pick their teeth to cleanse
them in any manner?  I know the rotting flesh is what gives Komodos
their septic bite.  

(I don't wish to start a thread on whether theropods had septic bites as
this has been covered in the past and is in the archives.)

Bill Parker



_______________________
Bill Parker
Department of Geology
Northern Arizona University
Box 4099
Flagstaff, AZ 86001
_______________________
"Beyer, Eric" wrote:
> 
> Sounds silly but...How about simple theory.
> 
> What if they where used to pick his teeth?  (Nothing more bothersome than a
> slice of meat caught in your teeth.)
> 
> Another one of my off the wall thoughts.
> Eric
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dann Pigdon [mailto:dannj@alphalink.com.au]
> Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2000 5:05 PM
> To: dinosaur@usc.edu
> Subject: Re: DINOSAUR digest 1272
> 
> Martin Human wrote:
> >
> > > From: Dann Pigdon <dannj@alphalink.com.au>
> >
> > > I like the idea that they were used to help the beast get up. If
> tyrannosaurs
> > > spent much time lying around (and that huge pubic boot is obviously
> there for
> > > some reason), they may have had to rock forward to get up in order to
> begin
> > > straightening their legs. Maybe the forelimbs were still there (rather
> than
> > > being lost entirely, or vestigialised like in Carnotaurus) to stop them
> scooting
> > > forward on their chests before they could pivot their front section up
> to
> >
> > > I don't think much of the idea of the forelimbs being used during
> mating. Who'd
> > > want to antagonise a 6 tonne female by jabbing her with meat hooks at
> the
> > > critical moment? (please don't answer that question)
> >
> > Doesn't the latter statement contradict the first? If you want to push
> > yourself up, or stop yourself slipping forward when rising, why keep
> > "meathooks" as appendages? A flat strucuture with toes to dig in would
> > seem a better idea?
> 
> Providing that was all the limbs were used for. I can't think of what else
> they
> could have done personally though. I've read that Tyrannosaur forelimbs
> couldn't
> straighten out at the elbow more than about 90 degrees (that is, couldn't
> straighten out at all). If this is not one of those Mesozoic myths (as
> opposed
> to urban myths) that has been endlessly repeated until assumed true, it
> certainly seems to fit in with the former of the two above mentioned
> theories.
> Imagine a Tyrannosaur lying down with its weight supported by its folded
> legs,
> pubic boot and chest. The position of the arms, and their c.90 degree angle
> would probably put the forelimbs lying horizontally along the ground, with
> the
> claws digging into the earth. Being heavily muscled, and unable to
> straighten
> out any more than c.90 degrees (I'm still assuming this), they would seem to
> be
> perfect for stopping the chest from scooting forward when the animal
> straightens
> up its hind limbs before rocking back and using the counter balancing tail
> to
> raise the front part of the body. Perhaps the large curved pubic boot
> functioned
> as a pivot early on in the process before the legs were straightened enough
> for
> it to leave the ground (that is, enough to allow the centre of balance to be
> moved forward to take some of the stress off the hind limbs to allow them to
> begin the process of straightening, when the chest would be baring a bit
> more
> weight and perhaps require the forelimbs to prevent it scooting forward with
> the
> change of weight/angle on the chest).
> 
> I suspect the whole process would have been similar to how a goat rises to
> its
> feet (I'm assuming from memory that they rise back legs first). As to why it
> retained curved claws, this could have been a holdover from earlier
> theropods
> who had more use of their forelimbs, or perhaps they did other things with
> them
> that we haven't thought of yet.
> 
> Conjecture at its best (arguably).
> 
> --
> ____________________________________________________
>         Dann Pigdon
>         GIS Archaeologist
>         Melbourne, Australia
> 
>         Australian Dinosaurs:
>         http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/4459/
>         http://www.alphalink.com.au/~dannj
> ____________________________________________________