Re: Campbell's even crazier than a MANIAC? (archeopteryx climbing)

["T. Michael Keesey" <keesey@gmail.com>]

On Wed, Sep 10, 2008 at 10:31 AM,  <dinoboygraphics@aol.com> wrote:
>
> I'm not saying Archaeopteryx could never, ever get into a tree.  If an
> archie found a tree (no easy chore in its particular environment) and was
> highly motivated (perhaps a competition?) I'm sure they could manage to
> scamper up some form of tree.  I'm just pointing out that they lack
> specializations for the activity, and exhibit several that hinder climbing,
> so the inferred importance of arboreal behavior should be kept to a minimum
> at the level of Archaeopteryx.

Seeing as Archie lived in an archipelago, is there any possibility
that it was beginning to *lose* arboreality? This is probably not the
most parsimonious idea, but it could be possible. Are there any
morphological clues that would indicate one way or the other?

-- 
T. Michael Keesey
Technical Consultant and Developer, Internet Technologies
Glendale, California