Fw: Pro(to)avis

[jrc <jrccea@bellsouth.net>]

Oops.  I forgot to cc this to the list.
Jim

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "jrc" <jrccea@bellsouth.net>
To: <david.marjanovic@gmx.at>
Sent: Saturday, September 17, 2005 5:28 AM
Subject: Re: Pro(to)avis


> > > selective pressure toward hindlimb wings in full-tail animals.
> >
> > This makes a major assumption on the orientation and/or mobility of the 
> > "hindwings"... the fossils are squished flat, deforming (and often 
> > breaking) even the bones, so we should be very careful with that.
>
> That's right, it does.  If I remember correctly, sometime back I was 
> quoted in Science (or Nature, I forget which) as saying something very 
> similar.  I still feel that way, but  for the purposes of  this thread,  I 
> felt that we were presuming that the hindwings were functional flight 
> devices.
>
> Jim