Elmisaurids (was Re: Dinosaur Web Pages' Re-Opening)

[Dinogeorge@aol.com]

In a message dated 97-09-04 15:54:28 EDT, znc14@ttacs1.ttu.edu writes:

<< >one. _Mononykus_ can't be a bird because, like _Avimimus_, it doesn't
have an
 >avian metatarsus; it has an arctometatarsalian metatarsus.
         As do the non-arctomet elmisaurids. Indeed, there seems to be a
 tendancy in all coelurosaurs towads a compressed MT III, and in at least two
 groups, towards a more slender metatarsus. >>

All this means is that elmisaurids aren't birds, either. The
arctometatarsalian metatarsus is actually >derived< with respect to the avian
metatarsus (_Archaeopteryx_ does not have an arctomet metatarsus). It may
indeed have arisen more than once.