RE: smallest ANCIENT non-bird dinosaur - was what I was asking

[Jeff Hecht <jeff@jeffhecht.com>]

A general observation in reaction to this discussion -- having watched the 
public reaction to astronomers trying to redefine Pluto as a 'dwarf planet,' I 
would be wary of the public reaction to attempts to redefine birds in a way 
that leaves out Archaeopteryx. Astronomers had a fair justification for 
reclassifying Pluto, but they failed completely in justifying it to the public, 
who have long been taught Pluto was a planet, and concluded it was 
hair-splitting silliness. To the public who pay attention to such things, 
Archaeopteryx is the first bird. They would accept a flyer earlier than 
Archaeopteryx as a bird, but they would not accept trying to exclude 
Archaeopteryx on some arcane anatomical or cladistic grounds. Reclassifying 
something so fundamental -- and on some level so obvious -- could make 
evolution seem a less-certain science than it is. 

-- 
Jeff Hecht, science & technology writer
jeff@jeffhecht.com  http://www.jeffhecht.com
525 Auburn St., Auburndale, MA 02466 USA
tel. 617-965-3834