Re: retroverted pubis, Asian surnames, and JP.

["Mickey Mortimer" <Mickey_Mortimer111@msn.com>]

David Elliott wrote-

> I have a question about the pubis in dromaeosaurs - does it have common
> descent with a bird's pubis, or is it possible it's convergence? And a
> side-question - in a 1997 posting i found while looking at the archives,
it
> was mentioned that only dromaeosaurs, birds and therizinosaurs had the
> retroverted pubis among saurischians - is that still true? What's it like
in
> _Mononykus_ and _Patagonykus_ (or do they go under "birds")?

Some amount of retroversion has a common descent between dromaeosaurids and
birds (mesopuby), but the more extreme opisthopuby of dromaeosaurids like
Velociraptor and pygostylians is probably due to convergence.  This is
because of basal birds (eg. Archaeopteryx, Rahonavis) having less reversed
pubes than pygostylians.
Among saurischians, the following have retroverted pubes-
Herrerasaurus
therizinosauroids
Patagonykus + mononykines
Sinovenator and other basal troodontids
dromaeosaurids
non-dromaeosaurid, non-avian eumaniraptorans (eg. Bambiraptor,
Sinornithosaurus, Unenlagia?, Rahonavis?)
avians

Mickey Mortimer