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Re: Bird Competency



On Mon, 13 May 1996, John Bois wrote:

This is slightly off Mr. Bois's point (if he can be said to have one)
but...

>      Correct me if I'm wrong.  Enantiornithines dominated the late
> Cretaceous.  Their diversity increased to the K/T.  They were fully
> volant fliers.

Some could fly; many could not.

> Within the limitations of their physiology we would expect some
> resemblance between the niches exploited by modern birds and the
> niches exploited in the Cretaceous.

Enantiornithians were no more limited by their physiology than are modern 
birds.  The "growth rings" that have been found probably were not growth 
rings analogous to those in lizards and crocs, and there is no reason to 
think that enantiornithians were any less endothermic than, say, a 
chicken or an ostrich.

> Could there not have been raptor-like, owl-like, robin-like,
> albatross-like enantiornithines.

Yes, there could have been, but we have *no* evidence for them.

Nick Pharris

Until next Sunday, at:

Pacific Lutheran University
Tacoma, WA 98447
(206)535-8206
PharriNJ@PLU.edu