RE: Palpebral Bones

[Richard W Travsky <rtravsky@uwyo.edu>]

On Wed, 22 Mar 2000, Matthew Bonnan wrote:
> Chris Brochu wrote:
> >Palpebrals in crocodylians are largest in those taxa that tend to sit still 
> >in rain forest streams.
> 
> I guess the dumb follow up question is: could junk in the stream come
> rushing at the crocodylians such that they would need nice, big palpebral
> bones even when just sitting there to deflect it?
> 
> Or does there have to be a function at all?  An outgrowth of ontogeny,
> allometric considerations, etc.?

Films I;ve seen of crocs at kills show them twisting and tearing chunks
off the prey. This can occur with other crocs doing the same thing on
the same kill. Perhaps this feature provides some protection during
collisions while twisting.