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RE: Archaeopteryx, Sinornithosaurus, Rahonavis, Unenlagia...]

> From: owner-dinosaur@usc.edu [mailto:owner-dinosaur@usc.edu]On Behalf Of
> Josh Smith
>
> > Josh Smith wrote:
> >
> > > ...If we have critters
> > > with edentulous beaks, true pygostyles and such coeval with
> > > _Archaeopteryx_, this is a big problem.
> >
> > No problem at all.  Modern birds coexist with lizards, bats with
> > various gliding mammals.
>
>     Well, actually, it IS a big problem in this case because we have
> been supposing that _Archaeopteryx_ is the ancestral taxon to this
> animals with the pygostyles.  If they are coeval, then it becomes
> difficult for _Archaeopteryx_ to be the ancestral taxon.
>

Of course, this is only a problem if you are still actively searching for
direct ancestors, rather than sister taxa...


                Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
                Vertebrate Paleontologist
Department of Geology           Director, Earth, Life & Time Program
University of Maryland          College Park Scholars
                College Park, MD  20742
http://www.geol.umd.edu/~tholtz/tholtz.htm
http://www.geol.umd.edu/~jmerck/eltsite
Phone:  301-405-4084    Email:  tholtz@geol.umd.edu
Fax (Geol):  301-314-9661       Fax (CPS-ELT): 301-405-0796