Re: Combined answer Archaeopteryx running...

["James R. Cunningham" <jrccea@bellsouth.net>]

Williams, Tim wrote:

> The long fingers of pterosaurs supported the wing.

Only the 4th finger.  The other three supported the wing when the wing was on
the ground.

> Did the immediate ancestors of the Pterosauria retain a prehensile manus, or
> was it absorbed into the
> flight surface from the get-go?

It was never absorbed into the flight surface.

> I DO believe Archie's anatomy was conservative - at least osteologically.
> Again, I think Ostrom is spot-on.  Stripped of its feathers, one would be
> hard put recognizing _Archaeopteryx_ as a flighted bird.

And that is exactly why I think archie is not conservative.