Re: Rahonavis ostromi

[Betty Cunningham <bettyc@flyinggoat.com>]

this article on Rahonavis (now renamed as Rahonavis is preoccupied) 
http://www.abcnews.com/sections/science/DailyNews/dinobird0317.html
discusses the pinprick-like points along the wing bones, a 
common trait among modern birds as it strengthens flight feathers.  
The feathers were not preserved but the bone-feather attachments were.

-Betty Cunningham

MbwunBF@aol.com wrote:
> 
> To All:
> 
> In the June 1998 edition of Discover magazine, there was an article discussing
> a possible bird-dinosaur link, _Rahonavis_.
> 
> While the reconstruction on the page shows _Rahonavis_ with feathers, were
> there actually feather impressions?  Feathers are a bird trait, but the
> following quote proposed crocodilian similarities.  "..Others have looked at
> dinosaur fossils found recently in China and have argued that they had
> crocodile-like lungs radically unlike those of birds" (Zimmer 32).  Does
> anyone know what fossils were used to compare, and how might such an animal
> have both reptilian and avian characteristics?  Are there any other animals
> that have such shared characteristics?
> 
> Elizabeth Fallon