Re: Oryctos Is Back

[David Marjanovic <david.marjanovic@gmx.at>]

> > Total-evidence approach. Throw it all together and see
> > which signal is strongest.
>
> The biogeography doesn't seem right. Dispersal of semi-volant 
> microtheropods around the J-K boundary would be predominantly E -> W IIRC 
> and they'd have to do a generous bit of ocean crossing for which they were 
> not well-equipped.

Then maybe the dispersal just happened earlier.

> What seems certain is that highly interesting marerial is liable to occur 
> in the E slope of the Urals. And perhaps also in some former islands in C 
> Europe, but I think many have been rather well-explored.

There are extremely few sites from the J-K boundary.

> > What do you mean? Fusion in adults is the plesiomorphic
> > condition here, and
> > a joint the derived one. (Also found in *Rahonavis* and
> > some or all of the
> > Chinese long-tailed "birds", I forgot which ones.
> > Not found in *Sapeornis*
> > or confuciusornithids.)
>
> What I mean is how to score the difference between enantis and euornis. 
> Not as a binary character (fusion/joint).

Indeed not. There's suture/fusion, a joint with flat surfaces (*Jibeinia* 
has that if I remember correctly), a joint with a peg on the coracoid and a 
socket on the scapula (seen in enantis and the "long-tailed birds"), and a 
joint with a socket on the coracoid and a peg on the scapula (seen in 
Euornithes).

> How well is tarsometatarsus evolution documented?

Very. Why?