Re: chicken wing-claws

[a23813@ualg.pt]

David,

> Relative? The hoatzin is not a galliform. (And probably not a cuculiform
> either.) Not that anyone would know _what_ it is... turacos (Musophagidae)
> and pigeons (Columbiformes) have recently been suggested and have quite some
> support from the data.

But it's a bird and more primitive than Opisthocomus ;-)
 
> > In fact Gallus retains wingclaws all through it's life as does the
> Muschovy
> > duck, Cairina moschata.
> > I'm just stating this to find out if anyone here knew about this.
 
> While I don't have your experience, I've seen lots of (fried) chicken and
> turkey alulae with small, certainly functionless, usually straight claws. By
> far most specimens have these claws. I think I've once seen a claw on a 2nd
> finger instead.

In fact I think Cairina also has a claw on the 2nd finger but I can't repeat 
the observation because that species is extinct in my backyard. On the 
repeated observations issue (and not only for David): I've been repeating 
those observation for 8 years. 
And it's good to know that this feature is not endemic.  
 
> These are definitely not metacarpal spurs like seen in anhimids.

Caught a few young chickens this weekend, about 3 weeks old, confirmed beyond 
doubt: curved claws on a somewhat stiff facsimile of a finger.