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Re: thoughts on the dinobirds exhibit
On Sat, 5 Oct 2002, David Marjanovic wrote:
> > I will say at the outset I came away fairly convinced
> > that Protarchaeopteryx is the closest known sister group of, if not an
> > actual synonym of, Incisivosaurus, [...]
>
> An obstacle to synonymy I see are the serrated teeth. Forgot about the body
> lengths...
Maybe, but the serrations on P. robusta first premax tooth are minute
and very hard to see. Are we SURE the distal edge of the 'incisor' of I.
gauthieri didn't have such features as well? (not saying it did, I
simply don't know). I don't want to extend this argument for much longer
but I will also add that contray to Jamie's comments the front of the
dentary DOES have a toothless symphyseal region.
>
> > Another point is that there is clearly a large pennaceous
> > feather extending from the right forearm, indicating weakly developed
> > 'wings' were present.
>
> Aaaaaah... at last... at last clarification on this!!! <heavenly choirs>
> Since 1998, for 1/5 of my life so far, I've been scrutinizing photos, and
> reading contradicting texts... :-) :-) :-)
>
> It's symmetrical, isn't it?
Yes, it looks like one of the 'contour' feathers figured in Ji et al,
with rather loose construction and widely spaced barbs.
cheers
Adam Yates