RE: Wellnhoferia

["Jaime A. Headden" <qilongia@yahoo.com>]

Tim Williams (TiJaWi@agron.iastate.edu) wrote:

<This is the Solnhofen (sixth) specimen of _Archaeopteryx_.  Many folks
believe it to be a large specimen of _Archaeopteryx_.  I wouldn't get too
comfortable with the name _Wellnhoferia_.>

  This may be a matter of personal taste. Elzanowski certainly accounted
for plentiful differences, especially regarding the foot. Personally, this
may be remarkable to a unique individual, but it is possible this is of
greater systematic import. Involving the lines of where one draws the line
between unique individuals, or clades of genetic isolation. I am
personally aware that the bulk of specimens are considered *A.
lithographica* by the majority of workers who consider the taxon. However,
even a select few may be right, and reviewing proportionate details and
some very select morphological details of the osteology have supported new
species or new genera of a select group, Archaeopterygidae, etc. What
makes *Archaeopteryx* more real than Archaeopterygidae, for instance? :)

  Cheers,

=====
Jaime A. Headden

  Little steps are often the hardest to take.  We are too used to making leaps 
in the face of adversity, that a simple skip is so hard to do.  We should all 
learn to walk soft, walk small, see the world around us rather than zoom by it.

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