Re: Ruben Strikes Back

[Dinogeorge@aol.com]

In a message dated 9/24/99 1:37:59 PM EST, eamalitz@hotmail.com writes:

<< However one thing is clear with this hypothesis- If we maintain that the 
 flight is primitive for a subset of dinosauria, say theropoda then one must 
 envision multiple losses of flight along each of the lines of theropods. 
 This is obviously the least parsimonious explanation when compared to the 
 conventional model. >>

Well, secondary flightlessness has occurred in dozens of modern avian 
lineages independently and convergently. Why shouldn't this also be the case 
with theropods, particularly since those flying ancestral forms were not 
nearly as derived for flight as are modern birds?