New Members TheChill Posted June 21, 2014 New Members Share Posted June 21, 2014 I was wondering why Therapod knees are always articulated bending backwards, like a human knee, when all other bipedal knees (bird and kangaroo) bend forward? From the perspective of therapod dinosaurs being (at times) ambush predators, doesn't a forward bending knee make more sense, particularly when you do not have arms to grapple prey? (eg. birds of prey). If birds are evolved therapod dinosaurs, when did the locomotion transition from backward to forward bending knees take place? Does the articulation of fossil bones make a forward bending knee impossible? Or am I just missing something obvious? I appreciate your thoughts and comments, Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 That is their heel. Like birds, the metatarsals are fused into a single, long tarsometatarsus. The femur/tibia joint (AKA knee) is higher up the leg, and articulates normally. 1 "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members TheChill Posted June 21, 2014 Author New Members Share Posted June 21, 2014 That was the obvious thing I was missing, thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boesse Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 Birds actually have the exact same condition as non-avian theropods (birds being a subgroup of theropod dinosaurs). If you look, most birds have a backwards joint in their leg - and just like theropods, it's their ankle joint, and the actual knee joint is higher up and generally hidden in the feathers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 And just to mess with us... Horse people actually call the horse's ankle the knee. I had a great argument once with a horse vet about why horse knees bend backwards. I did not know then that they call the ankle the knee.... Same setup as birds and theropods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 All the vertebrates that walk on their tippy-toes. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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