RE: -pteryx

[bchoo@cyllene.uwa.edu.au (Brian Choo)]

>Rachel Clark
>
>I suppose whoever named Sinosauropteryx was opting for the other
>meaning of
>-pteryx.  I'm not sure, though.  "Feather" makes more sense, in the
>context,
>than "wing."
>
>Wiwaxia:
>
>Maybe yes, maybe no. I, along with many others, question the "feather"
>nature of these structures.  An earlier post seemed to imply they were
>more like quills than feathers.  It seems to me that the name may more
>reflect the psychology, beliefs, desires, and expectations of the namer
>than the structure of the animal.

Actually, the name reflects the fact that at the time Sinosauropteryx was
named, it was thought the animal was a fossil-bird (understandable), only
later was it realised that it was in fact a non-avian theropod. The title
of the original description says it all:

Ji.Q. & Ji.S.A. (1996) On the discovery of the earliest bird fossil in
China and the origin of birds. Chinese Geology 233, 30-33


"Its a garbage pod....its a SMEGGING GARBAGE POD!!!"
Cheers
Brian Choo