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I`ll have to admit that one of my major weak
points in studying these dino-bird relations is my lack of knowledge of the
detailed skeletal anaotomy of these many beasts. I have many "ideas"
based on enviornmental possibilities, and evolutionary principles, but see the
absolute need to look deeper into these skeletal structures. I know that there
are many expert paleontologists out there who can answer some of "my
questions". And, I hope you don`t think I`m being lazy, I am looking for
myself, but sometimes find resources at the local ,"small town",
teachers library to be somewhat restrictive. (i.e. NO paleontological
journals!). So, I hope you don`t mind if I pop an occasional question or two on
the subject. Here`s one, (since we`re still on the topic of an earlier
post).....
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1998 15:26:31 PDT
From: "Matthew Troutman" <m_troutman@hotmail.com> To: amaris@tin.it, forelf@internet19.fr Cc: dinosaur@usc.edu Subject: FEET OF EARLY BIRDS Message-ID: <19980914222631.2481.qmail@hotmail.com> <<<Does someone tell me what's means that the Arctometatarsalian=20 condition is reversed in Archaeopteryx, Ornithurine and Enanthiornithine = birds?>>>
<<The arctometatarsalian condition is 'pinching' of the third metatarsal (long bone of the foot) between the second and fourth metatarsals (Dr=20 Holtz will explain this better than me). Your stating means that the=20 common ancestor of *Archaeopteryx*, Ornithurae and Enanthiornithes had=20 the arctometatarsalian condition, but that these taxa secondarily lost=20 this feature.>> I never did see an answer to this post. Is there a "reversal" of the metatarsalian condition in archaeopteryx from its supposed dino ancestors? |