RE: Senter et al. 2004 impressions

[Tim Williams <twilliams_alpha@hotmail.com>]

Mickey Mortimer wrote:

> While I'm not sure if I agree Incisivosaurus and Protarchaeopteryx are
> sister taxa, note that they were run as a single OTU, and relevant taxa 
> like
> Avimimus and Nomingia were not included.

Therizinosaurs are also not included, and these could be important since the 
skull of _Incisivosaurus_ in many ways looks like a cross between 
_Erlikosaurus_ and _Caudipteryx_.

> Senter et al. also have a discussion of support for neoflightless
> dromaeosaurids.  Of the five characters they examine, at least three seem
> ill-suited for a judgement based on parsimony when other characters are not
> taken into account.  These are asymmetrical remiges, enlarged humeral
> diameter and elongate penultimate pedal phalanges.

Something I had overlooked: The distal displacement of metatarsal I, a 
character associated with climbing (scansoriality), is also seen in 
_Bambiraptor_, as well as microraptorians and birds.


Tim

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