Re: EARLY BIRD FROM SPAIN

[Nick Longrich <longrich@phoenix.Princeton.EDU>]

        The article noted that this bird was about the size of a 
goldfinch- I don't know what a goldfinch looks like, but I assume, not 
too large. Confuciusornis is maybe crow-sized, if I remember, Sinornis is 
pretty small, Archaeopteryx isn't all that big- It generally looks like 
birds didn't get very big. The exceptions- Patagopteryx and Hesperornis- 
are both flightless. I wonder if there might be some reason why 
pterosaurs were more effective at holding on to the niches demanding a 
large body size. And the small pterosaurs seem to be on the downhill 
after the Late Jurassic, as well.  The lack of large birds seems to 
be the result of competition from pterosaurs, no?
        To sum up: birds small, pterosaurs big? (I'm NOT counting 
Giganotosaurus as a bird ;) If so, why?

        -n