Re: late night thoughts: misunderstand what?

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

----- Original Message -----
From: "Sam Barnett" <sam.horus@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, June 14, 2007 5:33 PM

> "Their teeth and their skull biomechanics. Tyrannosaurs look more like
> they took time to place a bite in a convenient position and then
> thoroughly crunched their prey..."
>
> What is your interpretation of the apparently healed bite marks in the
> tail of Edmontosaurus and the illium of Triceratops - don't these
> suggest that Tyrannosaurus could grapple something and run?

Sure: first a chase, then a bite, and then (if necessary) holding with the 
arms to position the next bite. The healed bite marks show that the third 
step failed to occur because the prey ran too fast or otherwise got out of 
reach.

Allosaurid arms are less stocky, more mobile, and longer than tyrannosaurid 
arms, and keep the 3rd finger; in sum, they are not as extremely adapted for 
power. Allosaurid leg proportions are consistently less cursorial than those 
of tyrannosaurids of the same size.