Howard's tall tale background is the source of the rhythm, drive and authenticity of his work. Howard's writing frequently uses hypermodification, where most nouns and most verbs are modified. Sometimes a single word can have multiple modifiers. For example, in the line "the saw-edged crescent blade of the Yuetshi", the noun "blade" is modified with both "crescent" and "saw- edged".
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There are three thoracial segments, each bearing a leg, and five abdominal segments. The fourth abdominal segment bears an organ known as a "dens", and at the tip of this is a structure known as a "mucro". This species has mucros with smooth outer edges and saw-edged inner edges. In females, the appendage on the fifth abdominal segment is unforked.
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The wing venation varies between species and may help in identification. The middle thoracic segment has an operculum on the underside, which may extend posteriorly and obscure parts of the abdomen. The abdomen is segmented, with the hindermost segments housing the reproductive organs, and terminates in females with a large, saw-edged ovipositor. In males, the abdomen is largely hollow and used as a resonating chamber.
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Davies, S. J. J. F. (2003) These, along with their wedge-shaped body, are thought to be adaptations to ward off vines, thorns, and saw-edged leaves, allowing them to run quickly through the rainforest.Gilliard (1958), p. 23. Cassowaries use their feet as weapons Cassowaries have three-toed feet with sharp claws. The second toe, the inner one in the medial position, sports a dagger-like claw that may be long.
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Artist's impression Eoraptor is thought to have been an omnivore, although its dentition is quite similar to that of Buriolestes, which is considered faunivorous. It was a swift sprinter and, upon catching its prey, it would use claws and teeth to tear the prey apart. Unlike later, carnivorous dinosaurs, it lacked a sliding joint at the articulation of the lower jaw, with which to hold large prey. Furthermore, only some of its teeth were curved and saw- edged, unlike those in the mouths of later theropods.
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Holotype rostrum of Protosphyraena nitida (from Hay, 1903) Holotype of Protosphyraena nitida (from Hay, 1903); portions of dentary, splenial, pectoral fin In its general body plan, Protosphyraena resembled a modern sailfish, though it was smaller with a shorter rostrum, was somewhat less hydrodynamic, and adults possessed large blade-like teeth (adults of living swordfish species are toothless). Complete skeletons of Protosphyraena are relatively rare, but in parts of the Niobrara Chalk, the Mooreville Chalk Formation of Alabama, and other geological formations, fragmentary specimens are quite common and most often include isolated teeth, the distinctive rostrum, and fragments of the long saw-edged pectoral fin first described by Mantell. Usually, portions of the skull and postcranial skeleton are found separately. This preservational bias can be explained by the fact that the skeleton of Protosphyraena was less ossified than that of most bony fishes and tended to be torn apart by scavengers or decay before burial and fossilization (Everhart, 2005; p. 93).
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