RE: More New Refs

["Thomas R. Holtz, Jr." <tholtz@geol.umd.edu>]

> From: owner-dinosaur@usc.edu [mailto:owner-dinosaur@usc.edu]On Behalf Of
> Raymond Ancog
> Dinogeorge wrote:
>
> >Since a well-developed furcula is known for _Longisquama_, we
> can expect to
> >find it WAY WAY back in the early days of Theropoda!
>
> But since _Longisquama_ isn't a dinosaur but an archosaur ("thecodont") of
> uncertain affinities (to my knowledge), maybe the furcula may have
> developed independently within the archosaur group. Let's look
> for an early
> theropod, say an _Eoraptor_ relative, for a furcula.

To clarify (or actually muddy...) things: it is not at all certain that
_Longisquama_ is even an archosaur!!  The supposed "antorbital fenestra" on
this critter is not in fact clearly present: as Hans Sues showed at the
Ostrom Symposium, it is not clear on the actual fossil at all, and its
appearance on skeletal illustrations evolved over time: from hinted at by a
dotted line to being drawn in as a solid line...

Furthermore, Chris Brochu once pointed out that the paired U-shaped element
(regardless of whether they are clavicles or interclavicles or whatever) are
not fused: they have a clear demarcation between them.

                Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
                Vertebrate Paleontologist
Department of Geology           Director, Earth, Life & Time Program
University of Maryland          College Park Scholars
                College Park, MD  20742
http://www.geol.umd.edu
http://www.inform.umd.edu/SCHOLAR/programs/elt.html
Phone:  301-405-4084            Email:  tholtz@geol.umd.edu
Fax (Geol):  301-314-9661