Re: Feathered Dinosaur Specimen

["Mickey_Mortimer" <Mickey_Mortimer11@email.msn.com>]

T. Mike Keesey wrote-

> A deinonychosaur with no enlarged second pedal unguals? Could be a very
> basal one, then, and that could support your placement of _Rahonavis_ as a
> deinonychosaur. OTOH, maybe the deinonychosaur-style tails and second
> pedal claws are a plesiomorphy for _Eumaniraptora_, and this is an avialan
> which has lost the latter but not the former, or aparavian which has
> developed the former, but is outside the clade that developed the latter.
> It seems to have semi-wings, whatever it is, although the forelimbs are
> "only" about 70% as long as the hindlimbs. Secondarily flightless
> _Deinonychosauria_?

There's no proof it didn't have a sickle claw.  I can only see the hallux
and two additional digits.  The sickle claw could be overlapping the others,
I'm sure the answer will be available tomorrow.  Here's my question: Why
isn't this Microraptor?  Same deposits, very similar morphology.  The tail
is the same length (three times tibial length), the hindlimbs look the same
both proportionally and morphologically.  The only differences I see are the
longer premaxilla and radius/ulna in the new form.  The new genus is
different from Sinornithosaurus based on- taller premaxilla, shorter snout,
dentary convex ventrally.  The head actually reminds me of a
confuciusornithid with teeth because of that lower jaw.

> > Of course we all know it's a bird ;-)
> I wonder if the serrated(?) teeth might give them pause.

Didn't work with Protarchaeopteryx, don't see why it would work now.  I'm
counting on the elongate prezygopophyses and chevrons mixed with the obvious
remiges and retrices.  Of course they could always claim feathers evolved
twice.  I foresee Martin or Feduccia either claiming they can't see feathers
or else calling it a bird.  Sigh.  We can only hope.....

Mickey Mortimer