Re: Sifaka and Chukar Behavior: Trees Down or Ground Up?

["Tim Williams" <twilliams_alpha@hotmail.com>]

I wrote:

> I agree that use of the arms in aerial locomotion is irreconcilable with 
> concomitant use of the arms in prey seizure.

David Marjanovic <david.marjanovic@gmx.at> replied:

> I don't, and neither does Dial in the Ostrom Symposium volume. The finger 
> claws are perpendicular to the plane of the wing, and only the 2nd finger 
> is involved in the wing at all.

What I meant was that a gliding or flying maniraptoran would not be able to 
use its forelimbs for aerial locomotion and prey seizure *at the same time*. 
 I have no problem with the idea that the forelimbs of certain 
maniraptorans could have been employed for prey capture and aerial 
locomotion, when the need arose.  But deploying the forelimbs for predation 
while in mid-air would be disruptive to the animal's aerial stability.  I 
like the idea of maniraptorans gliding down from trees and using their hands 
or feet (or both the hands and feet) to grasp terrestrial prey.



Tim

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