Dino Flytrap Anatomy Studies

Yet another variation on the body form posited in ([link]) and ([link]), this time with the rib slabs themselves likely fixed (or at least less mobile) while the spiny sternal plate (still holding the thoracic module containing the heart and lungs) swings up and down on a muscular hinge located at the front of the body. The two torso sections can thus snap together in a clamshell fashion with the protruding spines interlocking to form a "flytrap" capable of capturing, constricting, and/or impaling small prey animals. This mechanism leads to a number of novel possibilities for ambush hunting methods, including the use of pheromonal lures (as depicted at the end of the kinked tail in the top illustration) and a variation on "tent fishing" where the animal stands in water with its torso open waiting for small aquatic animals like minnows or crayfish to collect in the shaded pool of its sternal plate. The thorax then snaps shut, trapping live prey to be consumed at the animal's leisure (the concave sternal indentation visible in the bottom illustration probably serves such a purpose).

Head types would likewise reflect the individual animal's specialized hunting technique. Spoonbill, spearing, and fish-trap beaks would obviously be common among piscivores (and there would be an elegant symmetry in mandibles with interlocking teeth mimicking the "flytrap" shape of the ersatz thoracic "jaws"). Proceeding from the idea that these guys (or their panspermic cousins) are Fhox relatives, it's also possible that food could be taken directly into the gut from the closed trap. That leads to the intriguing possibility of the "head" itself being the lure used to entice prey.

Full view for details, please. I will scrap these very soon...I just wanted to post them to my gallery temporarily to give the idea some exposure.