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Quadrupedal theropods
Topic Started: Apr 22 2010, 06:59 PM (5,062 Views)
Pando
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Are/would they of been possible?

I'm asking this question because of this awesome feathered quadrupedal theropod I drew a few years ago when I just started getting interested in Spec Evo. Too bad it's gone now, I really wish that I hadn't lost it :sad:
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Scrublord
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I,ve seen a lot of old pictures of Baryonyx on four legs, and it's still possible that it might have rested or swam like that, since we know spinosaurs were probably semi-aquatic. Speaking of spinosaurs, does Spec still have them? Because I actually had an idea for some Spec-spinosaurs that would become more and more quadrupedal and aquatic until they finally became full-fledged swimmers.
Edited by Scrublord, Apr 25 2010, 01:39 PM.
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Rick Raptor
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Spinosaurids died out during the Late Cretaceous (some ten million years before KT), didn´t they?

And I think the depictions of Baryonyx or Spinosaurus on four legs are inaccurate. Like all theropods they had inward-facing hands, so they would have to lean on the edges of their hands.
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Holben
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Yes, and their shoulders wouldn't be too good for support.
Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea.

"It is the old wound my king. It has never healed."
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Pando
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What's wrong with its shoulders? The only thing I see wrong with it is that its front feet are backwards.
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Margaret Pye
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The Faux's Giraffebird is supposed to be a flightless bird, but I think it works better as a therizinosaur. Most of them were pretty short-tailed, so completely losing the tail makes sense.
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Pando
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The only problem I have with them as therizinosaurs are: The beak is to birdish and the FEET ARE BACKWARDS!
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Toad of Spades
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Its probably knuckle walking.
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Pando
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Doesn't look like so.
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Pando
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I have found 3 quadrupedal theropods in DevArt.

A quadruped Ornithomime:
Posted Image
A quadruped Maniraptorian:
Spoiler: click to toggle

And finally a random quadruped theropod:
Posted Image
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Rick Raptor
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Oh my God, the quadrupedal Maniraptor is amazing!
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Pando
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I wouldn't expect the front fingers to be so long though. Still, good stuff.
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Holben
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Apr 25 2010, 08:07 PM
What's wrong with its shoulders?
You want limbs to take weight? Well, theropod shoulders aren't designed for that. They are drawn back along the spine, and not very firmly joined to it.
Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea.

"It is the old wound my king. It has never healed."
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Toad of Spades
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Given enough time their shoulders could adapt to it. Primitive versions of many groups, including sauropodomorphs, thyreophorans, ceratopsians, and later ornithopods, all evolved from bipedal ancestors. Also the earliest dinosaurs were bipeds. So given enough time and specializations, theropods have no real reason keeping some of them from becoming quadrapedal.
Edited by Toad of Spades, Apr 27 2010, 03:49 PM.
Sorry Link, I don't give credit. Come back when you're a little...MMMMMM...Richer.

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Margaret Pye
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What do people think?
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Carlos
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Quadrupedal spinosaurs not only are not taken seriously anymore, but they'd be completly and uterly impossible.

Theropods in general aren't exactly the dinosaur stock more prone to quadrupedalism, though I can see some groups capable of developing it. One major thing in the way is how pronation is so hard among dinosaurs; it only developed twice, and quite differently (the structure of the sauropod arm is quite different from the ornithischian/mammalian one). However, if the animal walks on its knuckles rather than developing pronation it can still be quadrupedal, its just hard to be a conventional quadruped that way
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