Re: Third claw for climbing was Re Pro(to)avis

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

>  maybe the small prey wasn't used to that sort of a predator...

Either it would have become very soon... or it would have become extinct, so 
that the predator would have had to change its methods.

> did Protoavis live near areas that may've been former
> islands (that re-connected to the mainland) ?

You're confusing *Protoavis* (all parts of which -- a drepanosaurid, a 
coelophysid, and who knows what else), which lived in Texas ( = western 
central Pangaea... unlikely place for an island) with "Proavis" (which is a 
purely hypothetical concept... well, lots of such concepts).

> > I prefer separate explanations. Wings for brooding, then exapted for... 
> > who knows... WAIR or maybe even swimming or...
>
> what's WAIR ?  *curious*

Search the archives. http://dml.cmnh.org "Wing-assisted inclined running" --  
some birds do that to run up steep inclines. They use their wings to stay 
close to the substrate -- but not to generate lift.