Re: weird jurassic dinobird with very weird feathers

["Jaime A. Headden" <qilongia@yahoo.com>]

David Marjanovic wrote:

<The... manuscript says it's only subadult, though, because the ends of  
various limb bones are poorly ossified.>

  This may merely be the argument because the authors have assumed that the 
specimen belongs to a "bird"-like animal, and therefore the tarsals are assumed 
to be fused to one another/other limb bones and an adult. This is an impression 
that is leading enough. The vertebrae do appear to have closed neurocentral 
sutures, and that's pretty telling.

  Cheers,

Jaime A. Headden

"Innocent, unbiased observation is a myth." --- P.B. Medawar (1969)