11mo ago

Talons and Claws

This set of 31 claws and talons allowS you to compare their size and appreciate the functional differences connected to the different behaviors in hunting and eating.

The GHO and Barn Owl are in the top row.

Are there any surprises for you in getting to compare them?

Pound for pound, the raptors have some pretty big pokey bits.

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- Skulls Unlimited, fine purveyor of real and replica bones, lists domestic cat claws as average 0.5 in / 1.2 cm and bobcat as average 1 in / 2.5 cm.
  All I could find on bunnies is that they should be trimmed when they get past the edge of the paw fur. They also seem to be more of a wear item due to the digging, so there is probably a wider range of sizes.
- Coyote looks close to a dog, they're basically the same size.
  Edit: you're also more likely to interact with dogs' claws, as you trim them. I don't think I'd even try trimming a cat. You also trim rabbit claws, would be nice to see those for comparison too
You forgot the most important raptor claw. The ~~velociraptor~~ deinonychus:
- Therizinosaurus claw:
  
  Therizinosaurus means "Scythe Lizard"
  
  That looks like a toucan skull.
  It was scary until I read they're just built in salad tongs!
- Harpy eagle is 4.8 in / 12.8 cm
  Velociraptor 2.6 in / 6.5 cm
  Deinonychus 4.7 in / 12 cm based on reconstruction
  The movie and book claws and raptors themselves I believe are actually Deinonychus, which were thought to be a North American velociraptor species at the time, but that seems to have been a minority opinion. That's why you should always find multiple sources!
  Smithsonian - You say “Velociraptor,” I say “Deinonychus”, Scientists evaluate the accuracy of raptors depicted in Jurassic Park
  This new view of dinosaurs, in part, inspired the 1988 book Predatory Dinosaurs of the World by paleo-artist Gregory S. Paul. Not only was the volume chock-full of illustrations of feathered dinosaurs, but it also attempted to revise some dinosaur taxonomy. Paul noted the similarities between the skeletons of the Velociraptor from Mongolia and the Deinonychus skeletons from North America. They were so similar, in fact, that he decided to group the Deinonychus fossils under the name Velociraptor, as the older name took precedence according to the rules by which organisms are named.
  Paleontologists did not agree with this change—Velociraptor was kept distinct from Deinonychus—but Paul’s book was a hit with the general public. And one of the people who read the book was author Michael Crichton. We know this because in the acknowledgements for his novel Jurassic Park, Crichton listed Paul as one of the people who inspired his vision for dinosaurs portrayed in the book, and he used the name Velociraptor to describe the large, sickle-clawed predators that disembowel so many humans in the fictional yarn. The same taxonomy was carried over into the film series, which ultimately made what would otherwise seem to be an abstruse scientific term a household name.

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