Re: cursorial flapping

[Robert.J.Meyerson@uwrf.edu (Rob Meyerson)]

>I would like to see birdlike fossils come out of the Triassic, but I don't
>think they will (_Protoavis_ notwithstanding) because Triassic dino-birds
>were nowhere near as birdlike as _Archaeopteryx_--which has on more than one
>occasion been identified as a "real" dinosaur (_Compsognathus_).

But, since Archy and Compsogathus are so similar in morphology, wouldn't it 
make more sense if these two genera had a common ancestor, not to far back 
(say, Mid-Jurassic or so).  This would put the origin of birds far from the 
Triassic.

Rob

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"Don't Panic!"