Dan On 11/10/2011 2:48 PM, Mickey Mortimer wrote:
I agree. This was the worst SVP abstract this year in my opinion, since any of us with cats know that a good portion of their passerine kills happen on the ground (making the cat's arboreal abilities irrelevent). And taxa like sparrows and crows are no doubt more arboreally adapted than Confuciusornis. So no matter how good the specimen is, it simply cannot support arboreality in Microraptor. Mickey Mortimer ----------------------------------------Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2011 14:58:26 -0500 From: schenck.rob@gmail.com To: dinosaur@usc.edu Subject: Re: Microraptor ate birds **sent this in direct reply to Ben Creisler first, resending now** I've gotta say that that was a pretty darned cool poster at SVP this year. At first it really seemed like good support for Microraptor being arboreal, BUT, then I remembered that my cat would eat passerines all the time, and my cat isn't arboreal (at least not like we usually mean when we think of arboreal maniraptors). ALSO, isn't it pretty darned cool that the Economist has dinosaur articles, i mean, you'd never see an economic article in a science journal, just shows how awesome science is that even 'money people' are like "ZOMG DINOSAURS!"On Thu, Nov 10, 2011 at 1:30 PM, bh480@scn.org<bh480@scn.org> wrote:From: Ben Creisler bh480@scn.org Another news article about the SVP meeting, this time about Microraptor: What dinosaurs ate--The belly of the beast http://www.economist.com/node/21538077 SVP Abstract 2011 O’CONNOR, Jingmai, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Beijing, China; ZHOU, Zhonghe, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Beijing, China; XU, Xing, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Beijing, China SMALL THEROPOD WITH BIRD IN STOMACH INDICATES BOTH LIVED IN TREES Preserved indicators of diet are extremely rare in the fossil record; even more so is unequivocal direct evidence for predator-prey relationships. Here, we report on a new specimen of the small non-avian theropod Microraptor from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota, China that has the remains of an adult enantiornithine bird in its stomach. The new specimen helps to further reconstruct the dietary preferences of Microraptor. Furthermore, because Jehol enantiornithines were distinctly arboreal, in contrast to their ornithurine counterparts which were cursorial, this fossil suggests that Microraptor hunted in trees and strongly supports inferences that this taxon was also an arborealist. This discovery provides further support for the arboreality of basal dromaeosaurs and a 'trees down' origin for bird flight. -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web LIVE – Free email based on Microsoft® Exchange technology - http://link.mail2web.com/LIVE-- Robert J. Schenck Kingsborough Community College Physical Sciences Department S332 ph# 718-368-5792 Follow Me on Twitter: @Schenck KCC Class Schedule on Google Calendar: http://tinyurl.com/mqwlcy-- Robert J. Schenck Kingsborough Community College Physical Sciences Department S332 ph# 718-368-5792 Follow Me on Twitter: @Schenck KCC Class Schedule on Google Calendar: http://tinyurl.com/mqwlcy----- No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2012.0.1869 / Virus Database: 2092/4608 - Release Date: 11/10/11