Re: The big story at SVP

[Jeff Hecht <jeff@jeffhecht.com>]

At 3:53 PM +0200 9/25/09, Andreas Johansson wrote:

>But Feduccia is not, in the bit quoted, saying it's not a dinosaur,
>leaving a reader unfamiliar with Feduccia's views the impression that
>the writer is clarifying and/or expanding on Feduccia's views rather
>than contradicting them.
>
>I see in the comments that Brian Switek read it the same way as I did.
>

The author of the New Scientist article has posted a response with more details 
from Feduccia:

"In his email, Feduccia went on to point out that Anchiornis does not have a 
fully opened hip socket or acetabulum - a non-theropod feature. He concluded by 
saying:

"If troodontids and dromaeosaurs such as microraptors are actually birds, then 
feathers would have originated once in the group, and the four-winged condition 
is primitive for Aves.""

I think there's a lot more to be said about Anchiornis, and I'd love to hear 
what people who attended the Bristol talk think.
-- 
Jeff Hecht, science & technology writer
jeff@jeffhecht.com or jhecht@nasw.org
Boston Correspondent: New Scientist magazine
525 Auburn St., Auburndale, MA 02466 USA
tel. 617-965-3834  http://www.jeffhecht.com