Re: Combined answer Archaeopteryx running...

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

> 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.  The skeleton of
> Archie is that of a rather unspecialized maniraptoran.

I agree.

> The feathers, of course, are a whole different story...

Are they? Considering *Caudipteryx*, *Protarchaeopteryx*, *Microraptor*, my
namesake =8-) and maybe the new dromaeosaurid, I guess Archie looked pretty
normal for a small eumaniraptoran/maniraptoriform even with all its
feathers.
        Not to mention the old paper that says Archie's wing feathers were
not asymmetric enough to fly with...
        The close-up of the new dromaeosaurid's feathers looks a lot like
the isolated feather from Solnhofen, with the exception that the latter is
asymmetric enough to fly with and is better prepared :-) .