Web resources, ICZN, China birds

[bh480@scn.org (Ben Creisler)]

From: Ben Creisler bh480@scn.org
Subject: Web Resources and ICZN

ON-LINE PALEO RESOURCES
A number of people have asked about discussion groups and other web 
resources related to paleontology. The site www.vlib.com was mentioned, 
but I found this resource unimpressive. A great place to find all sorts of links
is on the BIOSIS/Zoological Record website: http://www.york.biosis.org.
Dinosaurs are addressed specifically at 
http://www.york.biosis.org/zrdocs/zoolinfo/grp_dino.htm#i.
Among the many features elsewhere on the site are lists of newsgroups,
discussion groups, journals (which often have abstracts on their websites), 
and a wealth of other resources for the scientifically inclined.

NEW ICZN OUT
Speaking of the Zoological Record, the new 4th edition of the International
Code of  Zoological Nomenclature has just been published. This revised 
version of the ICZN makes some major changes to rules about forming family 
names, use of senior synonyms, etc. I have not ordered my own copy yet
(I will this week), but this new publication should be consulted by anyone
working on dinosaur taxonomy. The website for info is: 
http://www.iczn.org/code.htm

If you're a member of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology or another
professional organization, you can get a discounted price of $48.00.

ICHTHYOSAUR WEBSITE
For anyone interested in ichthyosaurs, I would point out R. Motani's new 
website: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/people/motani/ichthyo/index.html
It's still under development but looks extremely promising. His ichthyosaur 
classification lists a bunch of new taxa such as Suevoleviathan that I'm trying
to track down to add to my forthcoming name guide for ichthyosaurs. His new
paper in the Journal of  Vertebrate Paleontology will provide a revised 
classification.

MESOZOIC BIRDS OF CHINA
I heard through Tracy Ford that Hou's book Mesozoic Birds of  China, which
was published in Taiwan, is now sold out and is apparently out-of-print. I have
been trying to get the book, or at least photocopies of  the full Chinese text, 
for 
months now without success. Someone here in Seattle has a copy, and kindly 
provided me with the English abstracts and copies of the best plates, but has 
not answered my desparate pleas about allowing me to copy the Chinese text 
so I can translate the OFFICIAL descriptions. The English abstract is rather 
weird, and uses different species names and Latin spellings from the Chinese
text version.  If anyone out there is willing to make a set of photocopies of 
the 
full Chinese text and bibliography, I will gladly pay expenses.  

CONFUCIUSORNIS
I can't recall if this article has been mentioned here, but the following
paper pretty well demolishes the idea that Confuciusornis was a climber.
 It's in German (which may be a complication for some), but has a good
English abstract. The authors argue that Confuciusornis was a good
flyer and likely could swim, finding most of its food in or around water.
It lacked an alula but seems to have used its feathered third digit
(following the theropod counting system) as a kind of landing flap.

Peters, D.S. & Ji. 1999. Musste Confuciusornis klettern 
(Had Confuciusornis to be a climber)? Journal fuer Ornithologie.
140: 41-50. (In German with English abstract)