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Dinosaur killer claws or climbing crampons?

Phillip L Manning, David Payne, John Pennicott, Paul M Barrett, and Roland A Ennos

Biol Lett 2(1):110-2 (2006) PMID 17148340 PMCID 1617199

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.

DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2005.0395
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