RE: Could 'four-winged' dinosaurs fly? - latest Nature

["Thomas R. Holtz, Jr." <tholtz@geol.umd.edu>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-dinosaur@usc.edu [mailto:owner-dinosaur@usc.edu]On Behalf Of
> Jon Barber
[snip]
> The reply contains this tantalizing sentence:
> 
>       _Microraptor_, which provides negative evidence for the
>       cursorial hypothesis, could have taken to the air according
>       to our recent biochemical analysis.
> 
> *Biochemical* analysis??? Schweitzer et al. have demonstrated the 
> usefulness of biochemical analyses, but I'm hard-pressed to imagine how 
> such an analysis of a fossil will demonstrate flight or gliding ability. 
> The reference given for this claim is:
> 
>       Dyke, G. J., Nudds, R. M., Rayner, J. M., Norell, M. & Xu, X.
>       Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B (submitted).
> 
> Of course, my lack of imagination is hardly an argument against something, 
> and I'll certainly keep an eye out for that paper, but does anyone have an 
> idea of what Xu et al. are talking about? Or is this one of those WFTP 
> situations?
> 
Almost certainly a typo for "biomechanical".

                Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
        Senior Lecturer, Vertebrate Paleontology
Department of Geology           Director, Earth, Life & Time Program
University of Maryland          College Park Scholars
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