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Re: New alvarezsaurid
<Imagine the arboreal, flying ancestral forms as having most if not all
of the different avian characters that have been noted in "theropods,"
then >losing< some of them--randomly (particularly forelimb/pectoral
characters, as the wings vestigialize)--in each different lineage of
their ground-dwelling descendants. It would create a bunch of lineages,
each sporting its own distinct random selection of avian features, some
modified from subsequent evolution, some not so modified. This is what
is seen in the fossil record of
"theropods.">
Yes, but which line led to modern birds, to ornithurines, to
enantiornithines, or what have you? or were these all plays at getting
the characters for true birds, yet missed their mark, or were
neornithines just lucky and got the label "birds" we use today and
*Hesperornis* didn't get the full qualification?
Jaime A. Headden
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