BRADYCNEME, NUTHETES, WYLEYIA

[darren.naish@port.ac.uk]

A few comments on European theropods...

Yes the tibiotarsi (what's known of them... they are only distal 
ends) named by Harrison and Walker as _Bradycneme_ and 
_Heptasteornis_ are completely fused and I don't think they are from 
dromaeosaurids (or from troodontids). Can't say much more here as 
there is work in the pipeline.

> Has anyone examined Nuthetes destructor?  Is it a theropod, lizard, 
> or what?

Angela Milner has reexamined _Nuthetes_ and presented results at the 
Purbeck Limestone meeting earlier this year. _Nuthetes_ is a 
dromaeosaurid! Incidentally, the 'granicones' regarded by Owen 
(1879) as part of _Nuthetes_ have in recent years been referred to 
_Echinodon_ as this taxon has been considered a possible basal 
thyreophoran. Sereno (1999) and Barrett (1999), however, show that 
_Echinodon_ is a late-surviving heterodontosaur... so, could 
heterodontosaurs have been armoured?? Or might this mean that the 
referral is still not correct.

> Does anyone else agree on the enantiornithine identity of Wyleyia 
> valdensis?

I examined _Wyleyia_ (BMNH A3658) for my thesis and I think it's 
avian. It has a prominent bicipital crest, a proximal ligamental 
furrow and a distal brachial depression. Haven't yet seen the latter 
features in a non-avian theropod, but this probably owes more to 
insufficient published descriptions. However, while the lack of 
pneumatic foramina suggest it *may* be enantiornithine (Cyril Walker 
now favours this interpretation (Walker 1991)), Kurochkin (1995) 
suggested it could be from a palaeognathan. Certainly small, whatever 
it was.

Finally, and this is for Nick Pharris and anyone else pondering over 
ischial structure in coelurosaurs, _enclosure_ of the ischiadic 
foramen or notch can occur within Coelurosauria. I say this 
based on a specimen currently in press: more details when it sees 
publication (keep an eye on _Can. J. Earth Sci._).

"We have enough youth. How about a fountain of smart?"

DARREN NAISH 
PALAEOBIOLOGY RESEARCH GROUP
School of Earth, Environmental & Physical Sciences
UNIVERSITY OF PORTSMOUTH
Burnaby Building
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