Re: Feduccia's errors

[Stan Friesen <swf@ElSegundoCA.NCR.COM>]

From: brucet@mindspring.com (bruce thompson)
 >  Can someone venture a
 > briefish, bullet-point list of exactly what "Feduccia's errors" are?

I am not sure I can get all of them, but here is a start:

1. He fails to consider that some dinosaurs might have arboreal.

2. He states something to the efect that in avian evolution optimization
   for flight outweighs all other selective forces. (This misses the
   lesson of the peacock - which I think you can figure out for yourself).

3. He ignores all of the strong evidence from shared derived characters
   that places birds firmly in the ceolurosaur clade.

4. He places too much importance on the supposed earlier occurance of
   _Archaopteryx_ as compared to its closest dinosaurian cousins.
   (And ignores the few known occurances of advanced coelurosaurs in
    Jurassic sediments).

Well, that is a start.

swf@elsegundoca.ncr.com         sarima@ix.netcom.com

The peace of God be with you.