So you know those large sickle-shaped claws Velociraptors have on their hindfeet? Of course, everyone does. Well, once upon a time paleontologists thought the claws were used to disembowel the raptors' prey—certainly that was the working theory in Jurassic Park. But now a new study by Phil Manning of the University of Manchester has found that, sadly, no, the Velociraptor's claws simply weren't sharp enough to tear rip open dinosaur flesh. Instead, biomechanical analysis suggests the raptors used the claws to scale trees, from which they'd pounce down on other dinosaurs and cling tight with their sickle claws, biting and killing all the while.Great, scratch packs of raptors with razor claws off the things that I feared would kill me. Now its just down to zombies, sharks, and Dick Cheney with a Bowie knife in his teeth. Still...raptors from above? No, it's not the same. As an addendum, I just want you to know that this:...is also not true, despite what the creationism museum says. This is probably wrong as well.
Monday, September 28, 2009
I don't try to shatter too many dreams in one day, but I'm afraid it must be done. It seems that Jurassic Park was not the historical/anthropological record of fact that we all thought it was.