allegedly left by bigfoot, but I did some research on the foot structure of the 3 toed theropod dinosaurs, ratites (emus, ostriches, etc.), and other modern birds. The three toed dinosaurs actually had five toes, but the hallux (big toe) and the fifth (little) toe were very small and undeveloped and hung loosely high on the foot.
In the ratites, both the hallux and the fifth toe are completely absent. These birds, btw, most closely resemble the theropod dinosaurs in overall skeletal structure and in the form of their feathers. I also found it curious that emus, which have wings so small they can hardly move them, have retained a very short, clawed "finger" on each wing.
Most other modern birds have three toes facing forward and one facing back--which, interestingly, is the hallux. The exception to this form of foot is found in the parrot family and in woodpeckers, which have two toes facing forward and two backward. The backward toes are the hallux and the fourth toe. This condition is called zygodactyly.
Posted on Jul 26, 2002, 10:28 PM from IP address 207.189.173.166