Re: dinosaur anatomy

[se1aard@itis.com (Seth Ellestad)]

> Yes.  It makes more sense if _Protarchaeopteryx_ (sp?) is secondarily
>flightless and, like modern-day ratites, its asymmetrical feathers reverted to
>symmetry since they lost their use for flight.
>
>To me, the whole feather-evolution makes more sense if feathers originated as
>insulation, then came in handy as a flight apparatus later ...  Just _my_
>$0.02.

In a similar vein, what with all this "Archaeopteryx can't fly" nonsense
scattered here and there, I'd say--if it had flight feathers it could fly.
What on earth would it be doing with those if it couldn't?

Seth Ellestad.