Re: Audobon bird/dino article

["Martin Jehle" <martin.jehle@klinik.uni-regensburg.de>]

Dinogeorge wrote (18 Mar 1997 03:29:45-0500 (EST));

> << Bipedal dinosaurs could have attained the necessary speed for taking off 
>  by running, especially dinosaurs as well adapted for running as 
>  dromaeosaurs. >>
> 
> This might work, except that ancestral dino-birds probably did not have well
> enough developed wings. If an animal's forelimbs are not already winglike,
> >no< amount of running will get it off the ground. Wings--of some kind--had
> to come first; bipedal running for takeoffs later.

Yes, of course. I did not want to imply that dinosaurs without wings could 
take off  just by running.The point of my message was only that 
bipedal ancestors are readily available for dinosaurs, whereas they 
are absurd for bats, frogs, snakes etc.So any comparison with these groups 
concerning the origin of flight does not make much sense.

Martin Jehle, Dipl.-Ing. (FH)
martin.jehle@klinik.uni-regensburg.de
Regensburg, Germany