Comment by duskwuff
11 hours ago
Stand up and try to hold your arms out in front of you, with the palms facing straight down.
You'll find that this is a little awkward. The natural resting position of your hands is with the palms facing inwards, not down.
So if I understand right, this image of a T-Rex [1] would be wrong, because its palms are facing downward, while this image of a T-Rex [2] would be right because its palms are in a "clapping" posture?
But I'm still a little confused. Most quadrupeds have their front toes facing forward, right? If the first T-Rex did a belly-flop and caught itself on its palms, they'd be facing forward like a dog's. If the second T-Rex did a belly flop, its toes would be facing outward, like Charlie Chaplin's feet.
1. https://geppettostoybox.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/trex....
2. https://s3.envato.com/files/471149443/Realistic%20Trex%20Din...
Oh, that helps me. I thought it had something to do with rotating the palm. Why did they go into all the detail of the ulna & radius crossing?
The counter example they gave was the elephant - but this video [1] of elephants walking looks to me like "bunny hands", at least to a degree.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yf1K63tc1bY
That video has such terrible image quality that it isn't possible to see the elephants' toes.
Strangely, for me, downward is more restful than inward. Must be the decades of keyboard use ...
I agree with the article (well, the sauropod tracks in the article) that the natural resting position of your arm as you extend it forward has your palms mostly downward and a little inward. Fully downward is much, much more natural than fully inward.