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

[Tim Williams <twilliams_alpha@hotmail.com>]

Mike Keesey wrote:


> 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?


I'd rate it as a possibility.  However, _Archaeopteryx_'s 'arboreal' abilities 
are no better or worse than those of microraptorans, so it's most likely that 
the relevant character traits are primitive for Paraves/Eumaniraptora.


I'd rate as more likely the hypothesis that the weak flying abilities of 
_Archaeopteryx_ are secondary, and attributable to an island-dwelling ecology.  
This has been proposed before, and although I don't really think it's true, 
it's hard to refute.


Cheers

Tim
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