Re: FURRY SINODINOS

["Tim Williams" <twilliams_alpha@hotmail.com>]

ELurio@aol.com wrote:

> > Not really, we can't be sure if dromaeosaurs are actually theropods, or
> > convergant protobirds.

Actually, I think we can be pretty sure that dromaeosaurs are theropods.  
(Restraining myself to prevent a tirade of sarcastic understatements in 
response...)

And if you're thinking of hooking up the dromaeosaurids with imaginary 
_Longisquama_-derived protobirds (a la ABSRD/BAND proponents) and cleave 
them off from the rest of the Theropoda, then I think you've completely 
separated yourself from reality.

Mike Keesey wrote:

> I see where this line of argument is going -- eventually the BAND people
> can no longer deny the multitude of common traits in _Dromaeosauridae_ and
> _Aves_, and have to move _Dromaeosauridae_ out of _Theropoda_ and into
> "proto-Aves". But then they notice the multitude of common traits that
> _Dromaeosauridae_ share with _Troodontidae_, _Oviraptorosauria_, and other
> _Maniraptora_, and have to move them as well. Then _Ornithomimosauria_ and
> _Tyrannosauroidea_, and other _Coelurosauria_. Then _Carnosauria_, then
> _Spinosauria_ and "megalosaurs", then _Ceratosauria_, then
> _Herrerasauridae_.... Eventually all _Theropoda_ are removed to
> "proto-Aves"! :)


... and you've just reinvented BCF!


Finally, I mentioned _Longisquama_ early in this post.  I do not wish to 
even imply that I have any sympathy for "phylogenies" that link this critter 
to the origin of birds.  In a recent paper, David Peters found _Longisquama_ 
to be a prolacertiform, putting the final nail in the coffin for its alleged 
avian affities.

On a geopolitical note, _Longisquama_ has the bad fortune to have been 
discovered in the Ferghana Valley of Central Asia.  This region of southern 
Kyrgyzhstan has seen a recent upsurge in armed conflict, tied in with an 
Islamic insurgency against the government of neighboring Uzbekistan.  Now 
the Russian military looks like becoming involved.  This area, and its 
fossiliferous site of Triassic age (which also yielded the sole 
_Sharovipteryx_ specimen), would appear to be off-limits to paleontologists 
for a long time to come.  I hope the site itself doesn't become a casualty 
of war.


Tim


------------------------------------------------------------

Timothy J. Williams

USDA/ARS Researcher
Agronomy Hall
Iowa State University
Ames IA 50014

Phone: 515 294 9233
Fax:   515 294 3163

_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com