Re: Protoavis?

[charger72@juno.com]

I have to agree (this time). The ONLY thing that makes archeopteryx a
bird is the feathers. It has NO other bird-like characteristics. The
wishbone is the only other skeletal feature and that is the same for most
if not all theropod dinosaurs. Yes, archeopteryx shows a link between
dinosaurs and modern birds, but whether those features are the result of
parallel evolution or desendency is yet to be proven.

On Mon, 20 Oct 1997 11:43:30 -0400 (EDT) Gothgrrl@aol.com writes:
>Jonathon Woolf wrote:
>
>>For Late Jurassic and earlier fossils, you cannot assume you >have a 
>bird
>based only on skeletal characteristics.  >Remember, if it didn't have
>feathers _Archaeopteryx_ would >be classified as just a small, odd 
>theropod.
> Only the feathers >mark it definitively as a bird.
>
>I'm really trying to avoid inflammatory words, but the above position 
>is
>simply unreasonable. The criteria for accepting pre-Jurassic taxa as 
>avian is
>not (and cannot) be any different than the criteria for accepting
>post-Jurassic taxa as avian. It would be an unreasonable position even 
>if we
>didn't suspect that some non-avian archosaurs possessed feathers. This 
>just
>isn't the way that comparative anatomy works.
>
>Caitlin R, Kiernan
>