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RE: four winged Archaeopteryx



At 06:37 PM 23/09/2006, Hope, Sylvia wrote:
Archaeopteryx and other early birds had a long BONY tail.  In the evolution
of birds the bony part was shortened to a fleshy nub (think chicken) with all
the tail feathers sticking out of that, even in a peacock.  The modern birds
are not dragging a long heavy tail.

Of course the train of a peacock is not the tail, but the extended feathers of the lower back - the real tail is fairly short. The Resplendent Quetzal is another bird whose lower-back train feathers are often mistaken for the tail.



Ronald Orenstein
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