Re: Bird-Dinosaur relationships?

[chris brochu <gator@mail.utexas.edu>]

>I think I could go on but I'm sure I've established a line of reasoning
>with these points. Without a broad scoped view of any problem any one trait
>can be used out of context to propose, or disprove, anything.
\

I agree entirely.  This is why, in a phylogenetic analysis, *all* of the
relevant information is considered simultaneously.  The dinosaurian nature
of birds is supported by several independent analyses relying on a large
body of data, not on single characters that, as you state, can be
misleading in the wrong context.


chris




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Christopher Brochu
Department of Geological Sciences
University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX 78712

gator@mail.utexas.edu