La garra terrible, para matar o escalar ?

Dinosaur killer claws or climbing crampons?

Phillip L. Manning1,*, David Payne2, John Pennicott2, Paul M. Barrett3 and Roland A. Ennos4

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.