Re: new

[David Marjanovic <david.marjanovic@gmx.at>]

> The hindlimb may have become dislocated after death,

Not at all necessary. In the referred specimens of *Microraptor zhaoianus*,
they were dislocated hardly to not at all. Instead, the ilia (the long
plate-like hip bones) were broken; their upper parts are still vertical,
while their lower parts along with the articulated legs are bent outwards.
Have a good look at Fig. 9 of
http://research.amnh.org/users/sunny/hwang.et.al.2002.pdf (warning: 4.5
MB!), and you'll find the long break that runs along the length of each
ilium. That photo and the others will give you a good idea of just how
squished the Early Cretaceous fossils from Liaoning are.

And now imagine what you'd look like if you had been lying in a rock for 125
million years. :o)