Avisauridae leg formed by fused metatarsals (the bones which comprise the foot in humans). As a result, members of this family are distinguished from other enantiornitheans exclusively by features of the tarsometatarsal and pedal phalanges (toe bones). Unlike in some prehistoric birds, avisaurid tarsometatarsals were not completely fused, with the distal (outer) parts of the metatarsals being separate from each other. The proximal (near) half of metatarsal III (the long bone in the middle of the tarsometatarsus) is convex from the front. The inside edge of this bone's trochlea (toe joint) has a bony tab which points downward, known as a
Bones of the Earth Bones of the Earth Bones of the Earth is a 2002 science fiction novel by Michael Swanwick. It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 2002, and the Hugo, Campbell, and Locus Awards in 2003. Expanded from his Hugo Award-winning story "Scherzo with Tyrannosaur", "Bones of the Earth" spans geologic time, not just centuries but millennia, from the pre-historic past to the distant and unknown future. Most of the novel's events take place in the age of the dinosaurs. The "bones" of the title refer to the time traveling team players described in the story that study