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RE: Sapeornis and other Mesozoic Birds
Dino Guy Ralph writes:
> I find it amusing that Chiappe writes in _Encyclopedia of
> Dinosaurs_: "_Aves_ (birds) may be defined as _Archaeopteryx_ plus
> extinct birds and all descendants of their most recent common
> ancestor (AVIALAE of Gauthier 1996)." But wait -- how do we know
> what animals are "extinct birds"? We MAY define _Aves_ (birds) as
> above, but would that really be such a good idea?
That's a typo -- an extremely unfortunate one -- for "_Archaeopteryx_
plus EXTANT birds and all descendants of their most recent common
ancestor". This was the definition of Aves proposed by Chiappe
himself as far back as 1992.
Chiappe, L. M. 1992. Enantiornithine (Aves) tarsometatarsi
and the avian affinities of the Late Cretaceous Avisauridae.
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 12: 344-350.
_/|_ ___________________________________________________________________
/o ) \/ Mike Taylor <mike@indexdata.com> http://www.miketaylor.org.uk
)_v__/\ "To bleed the lyric for this song, to write the rites to right
my wrongs" -- Marillion, "Script for a Jester's Tear"