Re: Protoavis

[Stan Friesen <swf@ElSegundoCA.NCR.COM>]

Well, there *is* a photograph of it still in the matrix :-)

How much positional data one can get from that is hard to say,
not very much I expect.

The upshot of all of this is that I am *very* tentatively listing
it as a ceratosaur in my dino list, and I know of at least one
person that is listing it as an early maniraptoran, though that
seems highly unlikely to me.


[For the beginners: nowadays theropod dinosaurs are divided into
three main lineages: 
        ceratosaurs -   the Triassic "coelurosaurs" and several
                        persistantly primitive "carnosaurs",
                        including Ceratosaurus.
        carnosaurs   -  the remaining large theropods ("carnosaurs"),
                        including Allosaurus and probably Tyrannosaurus.
        maniraptora  -  a group of highly specialized theropods with
                        relatively long arms and well-developed hands.
                        This group includes the "raptors", and
                        probably the majority of the Jurassic and
                        Cretaceous "coelurosaurs".
]

swf@elsegundoca.ncr.com         sarima@netcom.com

The peace of God be with you.