Re: Feathered topics.

[HPB1956@aol.com]

alex@voyager.net wrote on October 1st, 2000:

> And I do agree, a frog was a horrible choice, and so generalized, too.
> I would have picked creatures much more similar to the evolutionary
> line, even possible descendants, or visually similar creatures. (like
> an ostrich or rhea for the _Gallimimus_, perhaps, or something else
> similar for the T-rex, etc. I might even go as far as to say a rhino
> or bovine for a ceratopsian.)

Aren't birds and crocodiles as extant animals the best choice? They are used 
for phylogenetic bracketing dinosaurs because they are the closest _living_ 
relatives of _extinct_ dinosaurs. The DNA of birds must contain very much 
information about the bauplan of dinosaurs, especially theropods.

Cheers

Heinz Peter Bredow