New Genus for Archaeopteryx

["Jerry D. Harris" <dinogami@hotmail.com>]

"Jurapteryx" revisited...

  The forthcoming issue of _Acta Palaeontologica Polonica_ has the 
following article:

El¿anowski, A. 2001. A new genus and species for the largest specimen of 
Archaeopteryx. ? Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 46, 4, 519?532.

ABSTRACT: The Solnhofen (Sixth) specimen of _Archaeopteryx_ is assigned to 
_Wellnhoferia grandis_ gen. et sp. n. on the basis of qualitative, 
size-independent autapomorphies. _Wellnhoferia_ differs from _Archaeopteryx_ 
in a short tail with the estimated number of 16?17 caudals; a nearly 
symmetric pattern of pedal rays II?IV with metatarsals II and IV of equal 
length and digit IV substantially shorter than in _Archaeopteryx_; and the 
number of four (instead of five) phalanges of pedal digit IV, which most 
probably results from a phylogenetic reduction rather than individual 
variation. A combination of large size and details of the pelvic limb 
suggests a locomotor specialization different from that of _Archaeopteryx_.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jerry D. Harris
Dept of Earth & Environmental Science
University of Pennsylvania
240 S 33rd St
Philadelphia PA  19104-6316
Phone: (215) 573-8373
Fax: (215) 898-0964
E-mail: jdharris@sas.upenn.edu
and     dinogami@hotmail.com
http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~jdharris

"If one had to sum up, in one word, the reason
that human beings have not fulfilled, and never
will fulfill, their ultimate potential, that word
would be: 'meetings.'" -- Dave Barry


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