From: DinoBoyGraphics@aol.com
To: dinosaur@usc.edu
CC: vindexurvogel@hotmail.com
Subject: Re: Steadman's review of Mesozoic Birds
Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2004 19:07:40 -0500
Ok, I had to jump in here"
>>>"but it is equally astonishing to see the very idea that
the theropod hypothesis is incorrect, relegated to the realm of
quasi-creationist pseudoscience, and with it the denigration of an entire
discipline (ornithological systematics)."<<<
You misunderstood what Prum said. It is not the IDEA of non-theropod
avian origins that isn't scientific, it is the methodology employed by
Feduccia, Martin, et al. that borders on pseudoscience. Evidence willing,
the debate should continue, but not by recycling errant ideas. You cannot
point out your favorite character that crocs (or prolacertiforms, or
whatever non-theropod)share with birds and then ignore a much more
bird-like example in nonavian theropods and pretend it is science (e.g.
croc tooth replacement). You cannot claim that the pretibial bone
absolutely cannot be the same as the ascending process of the theropod
astralagus even though birds show a wide range of develomental origin for
that condensate (including...the astralagus!) and pretend you are doing
science. You can't keep saying "no birds are not related to theropods, but
we can't tell you who they are related to becasue we haven't found them
yet" and pretend to be doing science. And you can't claim that the time
gap (20-40 million years depending on when the claim was made during the
last 30 years) means that birds could not have evolved from dinosaurs, even
though the "thecodonts" in question have a 60+ million year gap, and
pretend you are doing science.
You certainly can't spend 20 years publishing papers explaining how
stupid the proponents of the theropod-bird connection are for thinking that
a dromaeosaur looks anything like a bird ancestor, and then when feathered
dromaeosaurs are discovered claim that all maniraptorans are birds but not
dinosaurs and not expect at least a little flack from your collegues.
Martin and Feduccia have made careers out of making claims long after
they have been falsified in other papers (like croc ear and tooth
replacement "homologies" that supposedly don't exist in dinosaurs, or
claiming that double- shelled eggs in dinosaurs prove that birds didn't
evolve from them, even though double-shelled eggs all come from dinosaurs
that are not thought to be bird ancestors). They have continued to make
loud claims in the popular media despite making claims long since
falsified. It is simply ridiculous.
I have known Larry Martin for almost a decade, and he has always been
nice to me. I wish him all the best in life, but the charade has to stop.
This does not mean that there isn't a lot of zeal and animosity on the
dinosaur-bird side, and some cladists are extremely attached to their
particular cladogram. This personal attachement is often what drives
science, but it can certainly be acrimonious. It is ture that lots of good
science was done before cladistics was invented, but that does not excuse
ignoring modern techniques when conducting modern research.
Finally, this does not and should not "denigrate" ornithological
systematics. First, many, if not most published ornithology textbooks
support the theropod origin of birds, so it is not like ornithologists are
lining up behind Feduccia. Second, all modern phylogenetics is based upong
the foundation that traditional systematics built. Of course much of the
original work will turn out to be somewhat wrong, and some of it will be
radically wrong. As we try to sort out the differences between
morphological and genetic data, there are sure to be many more false starts
waiting along the way. None of that should denigrate those whose ideas are
falsified becasue of new data or new techniques. Ornithologists labored
long and hard (and no dount with much care) to get us to this point, and
their work is important and justified regardless of what details may be
falsified through time.
I guess what I'm getting at is: it's understandable to lament the
excesses in personality sometimes seen on both sides. And if the
preponderance of the data had fallen in with Feduccia and Martin, some of
the bird-dinosaur people may have fallen into similar fringe reactions.
But that does not excuse, on a scientific level, the belief that there is
any significant debate left with the data at hand. Without new (and
radical) information coming to light, support of the non-theropod origin of
birds is an excersize in futility (or worse, ego). I, for one, eagerly
await new fossils that could cast a light in favor of non-theropod avian
origins. But I also have great doubt that they exist.
Scott Hartman
Zoology & Physiology
University of Wyoming
Laramie, WY 82070
(307) 742-3799