Re: Feathers on dromie's digits (was: Reichel's Archaeopteryx)

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

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Aspidel

Sent: Saturday, March 30, 2002 12:18 PM

[...] This study of Archie still tells that feathers were attached to digits II (and even III) of the manus,

Only II, not III. III is free and lies under the feathers. This is best seen in Confuciusornis; both http://home.att.net/~gondwana/Gondwana/Images/Utahraptors.jpg and http://www.ndirect.co.uk/~luisrey/html/reappra.htm show it this way.

And that's how I think I'll draw dromaeosaurs and troodontids from now on.

Fine :-) -- but don't forget to cover the other side of the arms and hands in feathers, too: http://research.amnh.org/vertpaleo/f11.html and http://research.amnh.org/vertpaleo/f2.html show feathers on the entire metacarpus, http://research.amnh.org/vertpaleo/f14.html shows some more distally on the thumb. This is IMHO not taken into account well enough in the marvelous drawing http://research.amnh.org/vertpaleo/f18.html.

----- Original Message -----

From: "Aspidel" <aspidel@wanadoo.be>

Sent: Friday, March 29, 2002 10:07 PM

Subject: Reichel's Archie (was Re: The origin of flight...)

From: "Edels" <edels@email.msn.com>
> Also, Reichel's _Archaeopteryx_ is great!  It's how I've usually pictured it.

So do I think. And what I like also in Reichel's drawings is the fine
restoration of the vegetation.

The ventral view of the wings is especially magnificent... the restoration of the vegetation is more magnificent than the vegetation actually was, though. (Unless you assume Archie lived 200 km southwest from Eichstätt & Solnhofen... and it's unknown whether the Bohemian Mass island was maybe just as dry as the local coral islands).