Re: Jibeinia

[bh480@scn.org]

> It was stated that Jibenia is a Confuciusornis like bird.
> What does this exactly mean: is it the similarity 
merekly restricted to it 
> being from the same beds as Confuciusornis  or does it 
mean a real 
> phylogenetic affinity. If it has teeth is not likely 
that it is more 
> primitive and the resemblance may merely be the 
deceptiveness of 
> plesiomorphy.
> _EA
> 
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Hou gives the description of "Jibeinia" under the section 
of the book about the Confuciusornithiformes, immediately 
after the descriptions of the new species Confuciusornis 
chuonzhous and C. suniae in a subsection 4. It now appears 
that he compares "Jibeinia" to Confuciusornis, but there 
are a number of important differences in the construction 
of the hand, and the jaws have many small unserrated 
teeth. Again, I should have a better idea about his ideas 
on its exact relationship to Confuciusornis in the very 
near future--my Chinese is a bit rusty, the language is 
technical, and is printed using the old-fashioned version 
of Chinese characters (not the "simplified" version 
standard in most literature printed on the mainland). I 
suspect his dating of the fossil to the Late Jurassic may 
have led to the assumption that "Jibeinia" is closer to 
Confuciusornis than it may ultimately prove to 
be. "Jibeinia" does not have the unusual enlarged claws on 
its first and third digits that Confuciusornis has for one 
thing.