Re: New theropod (or is it?) from Poland

[Dawid Mazurek <dawidmazurek@wp.pl>]

To forestall the departure of David Marjanovic... :)

David thinks (like some others) the "Dragon" may in fact be a hybrid of 
theropod and "rauisuchian" material. Not saying it's not for sure, consider 
however this:
- the workers took this as one of the possibilities from the beginning;
- new and new material (of different individuals) is still in the process of 
excavation or preparation, bones sometimes in association, rarely in 
articulation; some of it (Niedzwiedzki, pers. comm.) makes the case clear;
- workers know what they are talking about (Sulej decribed a new species of 
rauisuchid in JVP in 2005) - but this is of course only an argument by 
authority;
- the mixture of primitive ("rauisuchian"-grade), through coelophysoid, up 
to advance tetanuran features is expected in a big Late Triassic theropod;
- foot tracks (and some of the bones, like femur) undoubtly point to a big 
theropod, most parsimonously would be to assume that's the same animal.