Nudds, R.L. & G.J. Dyke. 2010. Narrow Primary Feather Rachises in Confuciusornis and Archaeopteryx Suggest Poor Flight Ability. Science 328:887-889. [DOI: 10.1126/science.1188895]
Didn't they publish the same thing (for Archie only, of course) in Nature in 1994? Somehow, nobody seems to have noticed it back then.
> Alternatively, if they were only gliders, then the flapping wing > stroke must have appeared after the divergence of Confuciusornis, > likely within the enantiornithine or ornithurine radiations.
But...*Confuciusornis* as a glider is sort of imaginable. There were plenty of trees in that habitat, *C.* had nicely grasping hands and medially directed first toes, and it had long, narrow wings, so maybe it really did climb trees and glide down.
Archie? Apparently no trees higher than 3 m, unspectacular hands for a theropod, elevated first toes directed forward, and a gap between the rather rounded wing and the body.
BTW, does the limited shoulder mobility make WAIR impossible?