RE: 4 winged dino NOVA

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

> From: owner-dinosaur@usc.edu [mailto:owner-dinosaur@usc.edu] 
> On Behalf Of Brian Baziak
>
> 
> >a wind tunnel flight test of a scientific replica of the 
> ancient oddity."
> 
> 
> Which just ignores the fact the the hind limbs can not be 
> held horizontally. It doesn't matter how well it could work 
> if the legs can't get in the position. How much longer will 
> we be seeing this four-wing theory before it finally dies?


I have to W4TP (wait for the program), since I haven't seen it yet, but it
could be that their model uses vertically-oriented hindlimbs. SO that they
would not be "wings" proper, but more like the tail vane of a plane.

What bothers me more is: "the creature was like nothing paleontologists had
ever seen before"

Bullcrap. The feathering was arguably 'like nothing paleontologists had ever
seen before', but the skeleton is pretty damn standard dromaeosaurid. That
is one of the imporant points of this critter: it's skeletal anatomy is NOT
peculiar.

Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
Email: tholtz@umd.edu   Phone: 301-405-4084
Office: Centreville 1216                        
Senior Lecturer, Vertebrate Paleontology
Dept. of Geology, University of Maryland
http://www.geol.umd.edu/~tholtz/
Fax: 301-314-9661               

Faculty Director, Earth, Life & Time Program, College Park Scholars
http://www.geol.umd.edu/~jmerck/eltsite/
Fax: 301-405-0796

Mailing Address:        Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
                        Department of Geology
                        Building 237, Room 1117
                        University of Maryland
                        College Park, MD 20742 USA