Re: Conway's Nyctosaurus Restoration and the CurryWurst Prize

["Chris Bennett" <cbennett@bridgeport.edu>]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Unwin" <h0662eka@rz.hu-berlin.de>
To: <dinosaur@usc.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, August 13, 2003 7:16 AM
Subject: Re: Conway's Nyctosaurus Restoration and the CurryWurst Prize


> Re: Conway's Nyctosaurus Restoration and the CurryWurst Prize
>
> Further to Chris Bennett's comments regarding evidence for a membrane
> supported by the crest in Nyctosaurus I would like to point out that many
> members of the clade Ornithocheiroidea (Istiodactylus (Ornithocheiridae
> (Pteranodontidae+Nyctosaurus))) also have prominent cranial crests that,
> irrespective of the size or age of the individual concerned, have a
> 'finished appearance' and that no evidence of a continuation (by the
> integument or something else) of these crests by a membraneous structure
> has been found in any of these specimens. By contrast, in
> non-ornithocheiroids continuation of the crest by non-ossified tissues
> seems to have been the rule and has even been found in specimens from the
> same deposits (e.g. Crato and Santana Formations) from which
> ornithocheiroids are also well known.

The crest of Nyctosaurus has the "finished appearance" refered to above, but
of course nyctosaurs are not at all closely related to the clade
(Istiodactylus (Ornithocheiridae + Pteranodontidae)) despite what Dave
thinks.

> Moreover, I predict that future
> discoveries of crested ornithocheiroids (in which soft tissues are
> preserved) will also fail to yield any significant evidence for extension
> of the crest by soft tissues. This notwithstanding, in the spirit of the
> Bennett Prize I would like to introduce the CurryWurst prize for the
> first bona fide demonstration of an extensive membrane attaching to or
> associated with the crest of - and lets make this easy - any
> ornithocheiroid (sensu Unwin 2003)...

by which Dave really means a pteranodontoid!

> The winner will receive a delicious
> CurryWurst of their choice at a splendid ceremony to be held at a local
> Imbiss, but will of course have to come to Berlin to receive their reward
> as they don't mail too well.
>

Chris


S. Christopher Bennett, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Basic Sciences
College of Chiropractic
University of Bridgeport
Bridgeport, CT  06601