Re: Information on Pelecanimimus

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

Dinogeorge wrote....
> Would you assert that the birds _Ichthyornis_ and _Hesperornis_ had no
> feathers, simply because none have ever been found with any of their
> specimens?

     At the other extreme we could hypothesize that all fossil
archosaurs, including extinct crocodilians and thecodonts, had feathers
simply because no one can prove that they didn't.  When and where feathers
first cropped up in the Archosauria is still completely hypothetical;
Sinosauropteryx may or may not widen the phylogenetic bracket a little.
     The major disagreement I have with BCF is its avoidance of
convergence; it seems to claim that any archosaur or near archosaur that
may have flown or been arboreal had to be closely related to birds.  There
is no shortage in the modern world  of gliding animals; mammals, frogs,
lizards, and even snakes (!).  What is so hard to believe about gliders
and tree dwellers evolving among the archosaurs numerous times during the
Triassic, especially considering they otherwise don't seem have
much in common?        

LN Jeff
O-