Re: Archaeopterix? What Archaeopterix....?!

[ornstn@inforamp.net (Ronald Orenstein)]

>The other one is "Achaeopteryx, The Primordial Bird. A Case of Fossil
>Forgery." by Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe (Christopher Davies
>Publishers Ltd., Swansea, 1986, ISBN 0-7154-0665-5). I saw it in a
>second-hand bookshop and simply could not leave without it, because it
>seemed so interesting....
>
>          Jarno Peschier, jpeschie@cs.ruu.nl, 2:2802/245.1@Fido

This book created quite a stir when it came out, resulting in a detailed
re-examination of the specimens that amounted to a complete refutation of
Hoyle and Wikramasinghe's thesis.  There is no way that the specimens are
forgeries - and, of course, even if they feathers were forgeries that would
not explain the many birdlike features of the skeleton.  In other words, if
Archie had been found with no trave of feathers it might have taken longer
for people to notice its bird affinities but its place in the avian family
tree would, on cladistic analysis, be pretty much identical to that it holds
now.

Further, you must remember that (as I recall) H&W felt a need to "explain
away" Archaeopteryx because it didn't fit in with their theory that life on
earth was "seeded" frpm outer space without evolution.

Others here may be able to give further, or more accurate, details - but the
main message is that the book is baloney.
--
Ronald I. Orenstein                           Phone: (905) 820-7886 (home)
International Wildlife Coalition              Fax/Modem: (905) 569-0116 (home)
Home: 1825 Shady Creek Court                  Messages: (416) 368-4661
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L5L 3W2          Internet: ornstn@inforamp.net
Office: 130 Adelaide Street W., Suite 1940    
Toronto, Ontario Canada M5H 3P5