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No Sternum for _Archaeopteryx_
Hi All -
I just received this today, but don't recall seeing it on the list
(pardon if it's a repeat!):
Wellnhofer, P. & Tischlinger, H. 2004. Das "Brustbein" von Archaeopteryx
bavarica Wellnhofer 1993 - eine Revision. Archaeopteryx, 22: 3-15.
The abstract is very long, so I won't retype it here, but the paper
basically reports on attempts to x-ray and CT scan _A. bavarica_ to see the
exact shape of the sternum, to no avail; subsequent preparation, however,
under UV light, unearthed (ba-dum, chik!) the fact that it _isn't_ a
sternum -- it's part of the coracoid to which the "sternum" was originally
reported to abut against. Specifically, "During this preparation...it became
obvious that the bone which hitherto had been identified as a part of the
sternal plate pressed tightly against the left coracoid is in fact the
medial part of this same coracoid." And you _know_ it must be true because
they used the word "hitherto." Anyway, their ultimate conclusion is that,
with this new prep, the previously incompletely known coracoid of
_Archaeopteryx_ can now be described and is "in its general
morphology...neither avian, i.e. long and pillar-like, nor theropodan, i.e.
short and semicircular. Rather it is unique in being somewhat intermediate
in its form and in extending in two planes." Probably not a surprise to
anyone familiar with the already "intermediate" state of various other
characteristics of _Archaeopteryx_, but I guess it means all the people who
only see 1's and 0's can now remove the "1" from their coding for this
character in _Archaeopteryx_, at least if you were basing that on this
specimen!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jerry D. Harris
Director of Paleontology
Dixie State College
Science Building
225 South 700 East
St. George, UT 84770
Phone: (435) 652-7758
Fax: (435) 656-4022
E-mail: jharris@dixie.edu
and dinogami@hotmail.com
http://cactus.dixie.edu/jharris/
An expert is a man who has made all
the mistakes that can be made in a very
narrow field. -- Niels Bohr
After one look at this planet any visitor
from outer space would say "I want to
see the manager." -- William Burroughs