Sinornithosaurus in Nature

[Ronald Orenstein <ornstn@home.com>]

I assume everyone knows about this, but the paper
"Branched integumental 
structures
in Sinornithosaurus and the origin of feathers" by Xing
Xu,
Zhong-he Zhou
& Richard O.
Prum can now be viewed or downloaded
(for a price; the abstract is free) at
http://www.nature.com/nlink/v410/n6825/abs/410200a0_fs.html.

I can't wait to see what Feduccia et al will say about this
one.  Will it be (choose one):

1.  The structures are collagenous fibers (despite the fact that the
paper was discussed with Peter Stettenheim, who ought to know a feather
when he sees one)
2.  Sinornithosaurus is a bird
3.  The authors have committed a fraud.

One interesting point: Feduccia (or whoever) cannot use the argument that
a "real" ornithologist would know better.  Richard Prum is
a genuine, card-carrying ornithologist known for his work on suboscine
passerines.

--
Ronald I. Orenstein                           Phone: (905) 820-7886
International Wildlife Coalition              Fax/Modem: (905) 569-0116
1825 Shady Creek Court                
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L5L 3W2          mailto:ornstn@home.com