On 09.09.2010 09:38, Tim Williams wrote:
"Jura" <pristichampsus@yahoo.com> wrote: > Sad, it really just reads like the authors want these to be quill > knobs more than anything else. Maybe the actual paper offers better > insight.
Sometimes it reads just like Jura wants these to be anything else more than quill knobs. ;-)
Besides, I don't agree the abstract is overly enthusiastic. Quite the opposite. To me reads it reads like "they look like quill knobs, walk like quill knobs, quack like quill knobs -- surely we've overlooked something???".
Hmmm... I really don't see why the idea of quill knobs in a carcharodontosaur is so controversial. We already know that _Velociraptor_ had them. _Velociraptor_ couldn't fly, and there's no compelling evidence that it evolved from flighted ancestors. So _Velociraptor_ tells us that the presence of quill knobs cannot be assumed to indicate flight ability. _Concavenator_ tells us that quill knobs can exist in non-maniraptorans.
*Allosaurus*, and *Concavenator* itself, are known to have scales elsewhere on the body, and not just on the feet or lower legs. This is not known to ever occur in Neornithes, and Jura maintains that it's outright impossible for some development genetics reason that I don't quite remember.