RE: Deinocheirus (was Sauropodz r kewl WAS: silly conversation on 2012 US presidential race)

["Thomas R. Holtz, Jr." <tholtz@umd.edu>]

> From: owner-DINOSAUR@usc.edu [mailto:owner-DINOSAUR@usc.edu] 
> On Behalf Of Tim Williams
>
> 
> _Deinocheirus_ did indeed have fearsome-looking hands.  But I 
> do wonder what it used its fearsome-looking hands for - given 
> that _Deinocheirus_ may not have been a predator.

Having held the claws (well, casts) of Deinocheirus, they are bigass, but they 
aren't really fearsome. Now a Torvosaurus or
spinosaurid or megaraptoran claw: THOSE are scary nasty!

That said, I would say that Deinocheirus used its claws pretty much just like 
Megatherium did. Which is avoiding the question,
because we honestly don't know.

(I'm quite fond of making the therizinosaur-ground sloth analogy, and before me 
Russell & Russell did the therizinosaur-chalicothere
analogy. Hard to disprove, as we can't directly observe the behavior of either 
member of the pair... :-S)

Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
Email: tholtz@umd.edu   Phone: 301-405-4084
Office: Centreville 1216                        
Senior Lecturer, Vertebrate Paleontology
Dept. of Geology, University of Maryland
http://www.geol.umd.edu/~tholtz/
Fax: 301-314-9661               

Faculty Director, Science & Global Change Program, College Park Scholars
http://www.geol.umd.edu/sgc
Fax: 301-314-9843

Mailing Address:        Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
                        Department of Geology
                        Building 237, Room 1117
                        University of Maryland
                        College Park, MD 20742 USA