RE: paleonet Tyrannosaur front legs

["Jack" <jpenkethman@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Not a paleontologist here but:  Larger front legs or arms could probably do
about everything smaller arms could do, including picking teeth, so smaller
arms are not adaptive for function. Smaller arms may be adaptive for other
reasons; like the organism will to expend less energy in their development
and maintenance, putting that precious energy instead into more important
traits like jaw and teeth. 

Jack

-----Original Message-----
From: paleonet-owner@nhm.ac.uk [mailto:paleonet-owner@nhm.ac.uk] On Behalf
Of Klaus Ebel
Sent: Sunday, April 10, 2005 1:01 AM
To: Paleonet
Subject: Re: paleonet Tyrannosaur front legs


Maybe, the mothers of T. rex used too intensively Contergan pills, and
consequently the arms became rudimentary. Alternatively, the arms were
really obsolete, because they lost their former function. Apparently, with
growing size the arms became more and more superfluous in saurischians or
changed their function, for instance for wings. As I have found, all
saurischians were primarily water dwellers, living in a milieu comparable to
that of modern crocodiles. Klaus
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "James Davison" <jamesdavison@comcast.net>
To: <paleonet@nhm.ac.uk>
Sent: Saturday, April 09, 2005 7:30 PM
Subject: paleonet Tyrannosaur front legs


> To all,
>
> I keep hearing that the front legs of a Tyrannosaur were too short to 
> reach the mouth, but I am not sure of this.  It seems to me that if 
> the animal bent it's head far enough downward, the front legs would be 
> handy in removing bits of meat from the teeth, and the two front claws 
> could serve as toothpicks.  For an animal like T-Rex keeping the teeth 
> clear and functional would be a top priority that would contribute 
> greatly to survival.  -- JD
>
>
>