Re: Yanornis citation and other Chinese birds stuff

["David Marjanovic" <david.marjanovic@gmx.at>]

> Daniel Bensen's bird portaits
> Quite appealing portraits of the new birds--I might even
> want them as pets!

I couldn't say it in a better way...

> Since I haven't read the Longipteryx
> paper in detail or seen the full text of the Yanornis, I
> can't make a technical criticism at the moment.

Nevertheless, I'll try... :-)
The alula seems to be a synapomorphy of (at least) Ornithothoraces, since it
is known in *Eoalulavis*, *Eoenantiornis* and IIRC some others as well as
Carinatae, despite the presence of the thumb claw.
Aren't the legs of *Yandangornis* too short?
The tail of *Yandangornis* looks like long rectrices inserting at the tail
base and covering the rest... might it have looked more like in
*Caudipteryx*?

************************
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story.
Others read the ingredients on a chewing gum wrap, and the universe reveals
itself to them.
        Lex Luthor (the bad guy in Superman I and II); my retranslation