Re: Protoavis?

["Jonathan R. Wagner" <znc14@ttacs1.ttu.edu>]

At 09:36 AM 10/20/97 -0600, Jeff Martz wrote:
>Protoavis WAS largely surface collected from stuff that had eroded out,
>but I think some of it was still in situ.  Someone please correct me on
>this.
        In the words of Chatterjee, it was "serendipidously exposed with a
jackhammer." I sh*t you not.

>     Poposaur/rauisuchids include several memebrs that may have been
>partially or habitually bipedal. I know of one being worked on right now
>that shows a number of very theropod-like adaptations probably related to
>bipedality.
        _Postosuchus_ is reconstructed by Chatterjee as being bipedal (no,
he no longer believes that it is an ancestral theropod).

>      Feathers aren't the only diagnostic characteristics of birds.
        As my good pal Dickie K. just pointed out to me, Chatterjee says in
his book that the streptostylic quadrate may be the only diagnostic feature
of birds.

>More complete remains, with or without feather imprints, may settle the
>dispute.
        AFAIK, there are at least two specimens currently known,
representing a rather large proportion of the anatomy.

        :)
        Wagner
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Jonathan R. Wagner, Dept. of Geosciences, TTU, Lubbock, TX 79409-1053
        "There's a fine line between stupid and clever."  -- Spinal Tap