RE: Important feathered dinosaurs

["Norton, Patrick" <Patrick.Norton@state.me.us>]

>I'd like to invite you all to take off your cautious
hats and expound a bit on what you consider the two
most important feathered dinosaur finds to be for
science, and why.<

I can't speak as a scientist, but as a lay person, _Archaeopteryx   
lithographica_ would be number one on my list, specifically the Berlin   
specimen.  This was an extraordinary discovery for an extraordinary time;   
not only because of its role as key evidence in the debate about   
dinosaurian origin of birds, but because of its timeliness as evidence   
for evolution and the theory of natural selection during the early years   
of those debates.  I think number 2 will most likely be found among the   
feathered theropods coming out of Northeastern China, although for me   
it's too early for any one of the recent finds to jump out as more   
significant than the others. Perhaps second place should go to the   
"Liaoning feathered theropods", at least for the time being.

Pat