What's that, a dodo dinosaur? I know it says velociraptor, but it sure doesn't look like it. Velociraptors are supposed to have forelegs/arms with claw, so this would at best be an devolved evolution.
What's that, a dodo dinosaur? I know it says velociraptor, but it sure doesn't look like it. Velociraptors are supposed to have forelegs/arms with claw, so this would at best be an devolved evolution.
No, that's just a scientifically correct velociraptor, their claws were covered by their wings.
No, that's just a scientifically correct velociraptor, their claws were covered by their wings.
But now the arms are the complete other way around, did the archeologists get it that wrong when I was a kid and interested in these things? And then how are you supposed to use your claws like that when hunting?
But now the arms are the complete other way around, did the archeologists get it that wrong when I was a kid and interested in these things? And then how are you supposed to use your claws like that when hunting?
To be fair most theropod dinosaurs obviously fed using their legs to immobile their prey and just took bites out of them. The only one I think used their "arms" more often than the others was the Spinosaur since it was most likely a partial quadruped
Even the Jurassic Park Velociraptors had pathetically tiny arms and claws to be honest. iirc, the main way that's theorized on how they hunted was their mouth and their clawed feet being used to tear into downed prey. A lot of raptors tend to have a much larger nail on their feet compared to the others that's theorized to be the thing used to rip.
Just because their arms looked tin doesn't mean they were weak. Paleontologists discovered that the T-Rex's arms were hella strong despite of their short length
But now the arms are the complete other way around, did the archeologists get it that wrong when I was a kid and interested in these things? And then how are you supposed to use your claws like that when hunting?
Apparently these critters mostly hunted things smaller than themselves. Plus, even with inwardly facing arms, the creature still could use them to grasp things in front and below itself. IIRC the current popular theory for how small dromaeosaurids would eat is still this.
Raptor feeding mechanics
(A) grasping foot holds on to prey. (B) hypertrophied D-II claw used as anchor to maintain grip on large prey. (C) predator's bodyweight pins down victim. (D) beam-like tail aids balance. (E) low-carried metatarsus helps restrain victim. (F) “stability flapping” used to maintain position on top of prey (see Supporting Information Videos S1 and S2). (G) arms encircle prey (“mantling”), restricting escape route. (H) head reaches down between feet, tearing off strips of flesh (may explain unusual deinonychosaurian dental morphology). Victim is eaten alive or dies of organ failure.
But now the arms are the complete other way around, did the archeologists get it that wrong when I was a kid and interested in these things? And then how are you supposed to use your claws like that when hunting?
Paleontologists*, Archeologists are the ones studying human history, Paleontologist are the ones studying prehistory, just a small correction.
But yeah, since then it was discovered that their hands were locked in a "clapping" position, with each hand facing each other, instead of facing downwards in a pronating pose, since their ulna and radius were incapable of twisting like ours, which is what allows us to rotate our hands. Besides that, some ichnofossils of sitting theropods directly shows us that their hands were placed in a "clapping" orientation. This is also true for every theropod.
To be fair most theropod dinosaurs obviously fed using their legs to immobile their prey and just took bites out of them. The only one I think used their "arms" more often than the others was the Spinosaur since it was most likely a partial quadruped
Spinosaurus wasn't quadrupedal, their hands were not strong enough to support the weight, but yeah, it and it's relatives, specially Baryonyx, used their enlarged thumb claws for snatching fish out of the water.
Besides them, Megaraptorians also used their frontal limbs for tackling prey, somewhat similar to modern Big Cats and Bears. They were the opposite of most theropods, evolving smaller heads and bigger arms, rather than bigger heads and smaller arms.
Leave a comment