Re: seeds and pterosaurs

[Josh Smith <smithjb@sas.upenn.edu>]

In a message dated 9/7/99 3:39:31 PM EST, HPBredow@aol.com writes:

<< It has been assumed that, 
 especially in the Cretaceous when the first higher flowering plants 
appeared, 
 it was pterosaurs in particular who distributed the seeds, as bird
fauna 
were 
 still relatively sparse at the time. >>

Don't bet on sparsity of Cretaceous bird faunas! Bet only on sparsity of 
fossil record of Cretaceous birds.

George is correct.  Using the obvious example of Liaoning, where we have
birds, gymnosperms, and angiosperms in the same sequences, the
vertebrate assemblage is dominated by fish and birds.  The "avifauna"
(yuck, what an awkward word...) was certainly not sparse there; neither
would I say was it sparse in Argentina or in Madagascar (or more
properly termed: Gondwana).

-josh