Re: Peculiar Femoral Feathers

[Dann Pigdon <dannj@alphalink.com.au>]

Patrick Norton wrote:
> 
> Pulling the legs in towards the body would also serve to
> protect the legs during those skirmishes.
> 

Many modern birds actually do the reverse: they fold their delicate
wings and heads back while presenting the legs as a means of defence.
Vultures fight on the ground using their legs. The classic vulture
defence position is to throw itself on its back, with its legs in the
air between its agressor and itself, with the head and wings as far away
as possible.

When sea eagles conduct aerial fights over territory, they do something
similar. They thrust their legs forward and clasp talons, spiraling
downward until one of them "chickens out". The first to let go loses. I
would assume that even in Archaeopteryx, the legs would have been the
most robust part of their body, hence perhaps the first line of defence
in intraspecific combat.

-- 
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Dann Pigdon                   Australian Dinosaurs:
GIS Archaeologist           http://www.geocities.com/dannsdinosaurs
Melbourne, Australia        http://www.alphalink.com.au/~dannj/
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