Re: Postorbital processes on jugals

["Ken Kinman" <kinman@hotmail.com>]

    Assuming that the said processes have only been lost in mononykines and 
the "non-confuciusornithid ornithothoraceans" (mercy, how about that for a 
phrase to torture the speaker's mouth and the listener's brain)---- why 
would a single loss (plus a reversal) be preferable to two independent 
losses?
    I guess it depends on what the function of the process is, but off 
hand, it seems like two independent losses might be more likely than one 
loss and a reversal.  Both scenarios require two steps, so the question 
arises whether a reversal (re-acquisition) would be less likely than an 
independent loss.
   Therefore, I would discourage you from viewing this loss as a 
synapomorphy.  It's a very "iffy" character, and I think you are more likely 
to be wrong as right.
         ------  Ken Kinman



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