Re: Ornithoms, Parrots, and others

[Dinogeorge@aol.com]

In a message dated 11/12/98 8:44:18 AM EST, th81@umail.umd.edu writes:

<< However, the unique and necessary prediction of BCF (or at least some of
its
 incarnations) is this: that dromaeosaurids, oviraptorosaurs, and possibly
 some other forms are secondarily *flightless*: that is, that they lie
 phylogenetically within a clade of volant animals.  This is a fully testable
 hypothesis, which is why boiling it down to this essence is the main thing
 going for it. >>

I do believe we have a volant deinonychosaurian in the fossil record of
Madagascar: _Rahonavis_. The problem is to establish that it is on the other
side of the phylogenetic bracket, which is difficult because (1) the remains
are incomplete and (2) it underwent a lot of evolution itself since diverging
from the common ancestor of deinonychosaurians and birds.