FLIGHTLESS BIRDS

[PTJN@aol.com]

<<A running theropod evolving flight should have a tail no shorter and a
sternum no longer than Archaeopteryx, lack ossified sternal ribs, have arms
longer than other theropods, aerodynamically asymmetrical arm feathers, and be
an insectivore.>>

And what about the "running" and "insectivore" characters?  Why are they
necessary?  It seems to me that a sure fire way to ground the theory of the
cursorial origin of flight is to require a running takeoff.

There are alternatives to the "running" and the "insectivorous" aspects of
"ground up" theory of flight.  Several folks have proposed that the leaping,
flapping, bobbing, and jabbing behavior exhibited by carnivorous cursorial
predatory birds such as the roadrunner during combat and mating are more
reasonable models for preflight training among feathered, pre-avian theropod
dinosaurs.  These highly energetic combat and mating techniques would select
for all the basic flight musculature and neurological controls (braking,
banking, altitude, pitch and attitude control, etc.) necessary for flight,
without initially requiring flight.  They are also practiced at essentially
zero ground speed, so no running is involved, and successful combat could have
resulted in a meal of a fat little mammal instead of a dragonfly.