BIRDS WITH FINGERS

["Darren Naish" <dwn194@soton.ac.uk>]

Betty Cunningham says..

> I think what I'm asking here is- can the juvenile fingers of a Hoatzin or   
> Marsh chick simply be a case of a primitive trait (certainly retained   
> from an earlier form) a suppressor gene that is functional in most other   
> birds simply NOT working in a timely fashion in birds with juvenile   
> fingers.
> 
> So maybe all birds might be able to grow fingers as juveniles if their   
> supressor gene is turned off?

Some people (though I doubt if they have serious standing in the world of
genetics) have suggested that someone could do this with a living bird, and
resurrect non-bird characters. Bakker (sorry everyone) has said that you could
take, say, a hornbill embryo, remove gene inhibitors, and get a bird with a
long, scaly tail, clawed fingers and teeth. Hmm, are things that simple? Some
ornithologists have protested on ethical grounds, which is fair enough I
suppose.

-------

On another issue, I need to know if any of the qualified experts _really_ think
that hadrosaurs would 'retreat to deep water', as they do in Norman's classic
tome. Maybe I should contact Weishampel? Comments please.

["Say it... go ahead say it!" -- MR ]

"We're gonna need another Timmy!"

DARREN NAISH