Re: Pygostyle-like structure from Beipiaosaurus

[Ronald Orenstein <ornstn@rogers.com>]

At 10:27 PM 12/10/03 -0400, Nicholas Gardner wrote:
> --- Ronald Orenstein wrote:
> > Undoubtedly this will fuel the idea that these critters are secondarily 
> > flightless birds (which will mean, I suppose, that Feduccia et al will 
> > argue that therizinosaurids are not dinosaurs).
>
> And of course, that will only make their argument look more and more 
> ridiculous. ^_^

But - phylogeny aside - what exactly would a pygostyle have been for if not 
to support some sort of structure more elaborate than Beipiaosaurus' 
filaments?  Might this not be at least suggestive that (like kiwis and 
moas, for example) this animal may have secondarily lost a more complex set 
of epidermal tail structures?


--
Ronald I. Orenstein                           Phone: (905) 820-7886
International Wildlife Coalition              Fax/Modem: (905) 569-0116
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