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

[fredericus ruhe <fredruhe@xs4all.nl>]

At 10:05 28-09-1999 -0400, you wrote:
>> From: Josh Smith [mailto:smithjb@sas.upenn.edu]
>>
>> "Thomas R. Holtz, Jr." wrote:
>> > Of course, this is only a problem if you are still actively
>> searching for
>> > direct ancestors, rather than sister taxa...
>>
>>     Oh, Oh right.  Bring systematics into it.  Right!  Well, be
>> that way...
>>     Unfortunately, you need to bring that argument to the Ji's
>> and to Sun et
>> al. and some others, who are calling for pulling _Archaeopteryx_
>> out of the
>> direct bird line because of the "Jurassic" age of Sihetun.
>
>Indeed.  And to the Martin's, Feduccia's, and Ruben's, who somehow still
>think that dromaeosaurids have been proposed as bird ancestors (when the
>"standard model" considers them no more of bird ancestors than hyenas are
>cat ancestors).
>
>Not that Archie isn't a bad MODEL of a bird ancestor, but discovery of basal
>Tithonian (or early) birds closer to Neornithes than to Archie would show
>that the population called _Archaeopteryx lithographica_ is not the
>population that gave rise to modern birds.
>
>               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
>
>
>That's why we have Sauriurae and Ornithurae

Fred Ruhe