Dinosaur killer claws or climbing crampons?
Open Access
- 11 October 2005
- journal article
- Published by The Royal Society in Biology Letters
- Vol. 2 (1) , 110-112
- https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2005.0395
Abstract
Dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaurs possess a strongly recurved, hypertrophied and hyperextensible ungual claw on pedal digit II. This feature is usually suggested to have functioned as a device for disembowelling herbivorous dinosaurs during predation. However, modelling of dromaeosaurid hindlimb function using a robotic model and comparison of pedal ungual morphology with extant analogue taxa both indicate that this distinctive claw did not function as a slashing weapon, but may have acted as an aid to prey capture.Keywords
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