Dinosaur elbow joint range of motion test

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This experiment, and the other experiments performed simultaneously on the other forelimb joints of these alligators and ostriches, were designed due to my (JDH) concern that paleontologists were performing range of motion tests that were neither repeatable, nor utilizing statistical tools commonly found in other scientific fields. This issue is of major concern to me (JDH) because my research is based on testing how and why functional studies of mobility between the forearms bones, between them and the humerus (upper arm bone) at the elbow joint and between the forearm bones and the wrist bones at the wrist joint often contradict one another. Initially, we expected our results to show that all of our separate repeated measurements were significantly different statistically. Surprisingly, this was not the case, leading us to conclude that, if performed carefully, range of motion experiments on bare bones may provide useful data on range of motion in the fossil arms of dinosaurs and other archosaurs.

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