Re: flights of fancy (or "I'm brave, but I'm chicken****")

[Jeffrey Martz <martz@holly.ColoState.EDU>]

> When there is no evidence either way, you opt for the explanation that makes
> more sense. While nobody said that evolution _has_ to make sense, it usually
> does when the evidence is in and the smoke clears. Pigs _could_ evolve wings
> sprouting out of their backs, but the fact that no known mammal has yet done
> so gives us a clue that it probably won't happen with pigs, either.

      Saying all the evidence is in and the smoke has cleared on the bird 
fossil record is jumping the gun a bit. 

> >Except that it might well have developed adaptations to counter this
> >problem.  After all, an Ostrich is an extremely fast runner with
> >fairly-large, well-feathered wings and it seems to manage.
> 
> Yeah--or it could simply lose the feathers, which according to BCF happened
> in most of the large-theropod lineages.

      Sure it could, but it DIDN'T.

LN Jeff