Re: DA reviews

["Tim Williams" <twilliams_alpha@hotmail.com>]

Gregory S. Paul wrote:

> It is a good thing that Feduccia did not like the book, since if he 
> actually
> liked it it would be a very bad thing.

Heh heh.  Very true.

The choice of Dr Feduccia to review DA was not an inspired one.  His 
knowledge of modern birds is impressive, but when it comes to Mesozoic 
theropods, he quite clearly out of his depth.  Like Czerkas' description of 
_Cryptovolans_, the review of DA in _Auk_ displays an unnerving lack of 
familiarity with the literature.  This extract alone is loaded with errors 
and misconceptions:

"If dromaeosaurs can be unequivocally identified by salient, derived 
features such as extremely elongate prezygapophyses and chevrons and 
specialized pedal digit II (Xu et al. 2003 ), then one must ask just how 
_Archaeopteryx_ fits into the scheme, with typical Mesozoic ?avian? teeth, 
no specialized digit II, and certainly no elongate prezygapophyses. How can 
one imagine such a creature being derived from a dromaeosaurid ancestor 
defined by these salient features?"

For the gazillionth time, no one has suggested that birds evolved *from* 
deinonychosaurs, any more than humans evolved from chimps.  The two are 
proposed to be sister groups.

The specialized pedal digit II is also seen in _Rahonavis_ (a bird!) and 
troodontids.  _Microraptor_ has one too - and Feduccia suggests that 
_Microraptor_ should be removed from the Dromaeosauridae!  [Says Feduccia: 
"In addition, the recently described four-winged dinosaur from China (Xu et 
al. 2003 ) appears to be much more birdlike than dromaeosaurlike, and its 
supposedly diagnostic dromaeosaur tail (also like that of a ramphorhynchoid 
pterosaur) and claws bear little close resemblance to those of the typical 
dromaeosaurs such as _Deinonychus_ and _Velociraptor_.]  Says who?

Dromaeosaurid-like tails are also seen in _Shenzhouraptor_/_Jeholornis_ (a 
bird!!).

Dromaeosaurids are not "defined" by the "salient features" he mentions.  The 
absence of one or more of these characters does not automatically exclude a 
taxon from inclusion in the Dromaeosauridae (e.g., _Adasaurus_).

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