CHATTERJEE'S TRIASSIC THEROPODS

[darren.naish@port.ac.uk]

T. Mike Keesey, Keymaster of Dinocyberart, wrote, regarding 
_Protoavis_ and other aspects of Chatterjeean theory..

> Doesn't he still advocate _Protoavis_ as an advanced bird,
> while at the same time agreeing with the maniraptoran origin of 
> birds? Wouldn't that push the origin of all theropod lineages back 
> to the Triassic? 

Chatterjee's new book makes it clear that he does agree with 
conventional Ostrom-style maniraptoran phylogenetics, primarily in 
that he agrees that dromaeosaurids are the sister-group to birds. But 
with _Protoavis_ as a bona fide avian, he pushes the whole scheme 
back in time to the Triassic. Voila, Triassic dromaeosaurs. Honest.

Judging by the restorations in the book, Chatterjee also still sees 
_Postosuchus_ as a bipedal theropod-like beast. An ecological 
analogue of big theropods, if not a true precursor of certain of them 
(as opposed to his earlier views where _Postosuchus_ is a 
tyrannosaurid ancestor).

The book is _The Rise of Birds_.

"Why do you always act so dense, Haxx?"
"Duh-uh, I'm not acting!"

DARREN NAISH
darren.naish@port.ac.uk