Re: Theory Sez Flight Evolution Linked To Parental Care

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

On Carey and Adams' new paper in _Archaeopteryx_:

"This new theory, contradicting the two leading theories on the evolution
of avian flight, appears this month in the German journal "Archaeopteryx,"
... The evidence indicates that a whole suite of behavioral and physical
traits, including feathers and wings, evolved along with improved
parenting and brood-care traits," said James Carey, a UC Davis demographer
and ecologist. "Once the precursors to birds began to fly, the ecological
interplay of flight and parental care may have been mutually reinforced,
continuing the evolution of both traits and accelerating the rate at which
the physical features of the modern bird were acquired."

  Uhm ... does anyone recall Hopp and Orsen's presentation at DinoFest on
the brooding (parenting) precursor to avian flight hypothesis? They posit,
if snyone does not recall, that the act of brooding influenced the length
of the feathers, asymmetry, wing-folding, etc..

=====
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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