Re: Quo vadis, T. rex? [long]

[Jeffrey Martz <martz@holly.ColoState.EDU>]

> Good logic.  This means, however, that you cannot go around saying that 
> feathers are an avian autapormorphy, as we know nothing about their 
> presence or absence in avian outgroups (with the possible exception of 
> _Pelecanimimus_).
> 
> In other words, you can't go around saying stuff like "Birds have 
> feathers and dinosaurs didn't, so birds deserve a separate class."

     The gaps in the fossil records create all sorts of uncertainty 
regarding classification, the reason that there is so much disagreement 
on this list as far as what goes into what.  We base our classification 
on what is KNOWN.  It is POSSIBLE that there were 
tyrannosaurs with dromeosaur style toe claws.  However, considering the fact 
that no such fossil has been found, no one has sunk the dromeosaurs into the 
tyrannosauridae.  Feathers and adaptations for flight are known to be 
associated with the bird lineage, so for the time being the best option 
for the time being is to remove them.  

LN Jeff