Re: Whiskers

[Mark Hallett <marksabercat@yahoo.com>]

Actually I have as well, but in regard to small
maniraptoran predators. Since filoplume-like and
pennaceous feathers were present in some forms, why
not the vibrissae one sees in some small living
passeriformes and falconiformes(buteos and accipters,
specifically)that presumably aid in judging the
proximity of dead prey to gauge distance,in
compensation for loss of focussing ability, to seize
it or tear it apart.I did this on a rendition of
Velociraptor a couple of years ago, showing the
vibrissae-like shafts pointed forward across the
maxillary area. This would be analogous to mammalian
whiskers, which among other things allow some
predators to effectively "feel" the prey when
delivering the lethal bite to the throat or clamping
the nose. Comments?  --Mark Hallett 
--- Danvarner@aol.com wrote:
> In a message dated 5/14/2005 4:00:52 AM Eastern 
> Standard Time, 
> ajgrant@eastlink.ca writes:
> << Has anybody ever  meditated on the thought of
> dinosaurs with whiskers, 
> or a whisker-like  facial apparatus? >>
> Many, many years ago I feel in  love with the idea
> of Diplodocus being a 
> clam-eater. I still kind of like it,  come to think
> of it. Anyway, I did an oil 
> painting of a group of Diplodocus in a  river
> setting. I equipped the animals 
> catfish-like whiskers in order to sense  the
> bivalves in the murky waters. Years 
> later I destoryed the painting and I've  long since
> given up abusing certain 
> substances. DV  
> 
> 


                
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