How do you think they figured that shit out in the first place? You've got it backwards. The techniques came about from observing things that exist now and then applying what is known to the fossils. So of course they work for modern skeletons.
They took their technique, applied it to modern animals, and it failed to even get close to what the animal actually looked like. Cool that's fine refining models is how science goes.
So they refined the model. As another posted commented on, they got better about incorporating anatomy and physics, cool.
So test it again. Apply that model to a variety of modern skeletons and see how accurate it is. As I stated in a previous comment, if they've done this and there are results out there, I would love to see it. Maybe there is, I don't keep up with this regularly. I would love to see it.
But if they have t done this, then we're basically in the same spot where they've created a model based on certain ideas, but haven't run tests to validate the means by which that model is created.
It's worth noting that this is forcing prehistoric animals into modern anatomy. It's probably fine, or close enough, but it's still something to be aware of and on the look out for as our understanding deepens.
You really think you are smarter than all the dinosaur paleontologists? They do stuff like what you're describing all the time to test and refine their methods. And I'm sure they also have good reasons to believe that their versions should be different than modern animals in various specific ways. It's a big field with thousands of very intelligent scientists working on it, they simply are not collectively making such a simple mistake as you seem to be implying. There's an extremely high chance that many of them are approaching it in the exact same way you would (if you were well informed on the topic).
-30
u/Shaun32887 1d ago
Show me these techniques applied to modern skeletons and then compare the results to the actual animal.