Re: Willie Wonka and the New Papers

[Mike Habib <habib@jhmi.edu>]

> But also a strong tendency to be:
> * short-tailed and smallish
> * fairly round-winged and better able to maneuver in
> confined space than to fly long distances
> * perchers on branches rather than skulkers, climbers,
> runners etc

And, conveniently enough, these locomotor dynamics can be nicely  
predicted using purely osteological information, if you use variables  
that relate to load (rather than just proportions).  Thus, we can test  
for this sort of ecological "guild" in fossil taxa.

Cheers,

--Mike

Michael Habib, M.S.
PhD. Candidate
Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
1830 E. Monument Street
Baltimore, MD 21205
(443) 280-0181
habib@jhmi.edu