Snowshoe Claw
Finally, the existence of Big Foot--explained!This is Sandra Tsing Loh with "The Loh Down on Science" saying, or at least BIRD foot. Birds' feet are all about function. Ostriches have compact feet for kicking. Ducks, webbed feet, for swimming. Eagles? Crushing talons, for, well, crushing. And birds that walk a lot, like larks, tend to have little short feet. They're less susceptible to strain injuries than long ones would be. Oddly, though, some ground-dwelling species have remarkably LONG toes. AND long claws. Why? Scientists have occasionally observed these big-footed birds feeding in tall grass. And they wondered: could the long toes help them walk OVER the grass without sinking in? Kind of like snowshoes? A supposition actually called the "snowshoe hypothesis." To test it, a team of British and South African zoologists measured the feet of seventy-one species of ground-dwelling birds. And the snowshoe hypothesis. . . lives! Species found predominantly on bare ground had shorter toes and claws. Species whose habitats included tall or clumpy grasses had longer feet--seven to thirteen percent longer. No word on birds actually living in snow. Guess they just strap on the shoes. Sure.
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