dinosaur phylogeny and Greek mythology

["James Norton" <JNorton@mailbox.une.edu>]

If we assume for a moment that Dinogeorge is correct in his longstanding claim 
regarding the relationship between birds and dinosaurs, then an interesting 
parallel can be drawn between dinosaurs and birds, on the one hand, and the 
legend of Icarus and Daedalus on the other.  Icarus and Daedalus were a father 
and son team who fled imprisonment on Minos by flying away from the island on 
manmade wings.  Daedalus, the father, escaped successfully, while Icarus, his 
son, flew too close to the sun and fell to his death when the wax holding the 
feathers melted.

Relating this to dinosaurs and birds: the "Daedalus clade" could include all 
those archosaurs that permanently or temporarily developed flight capability.  
Nestled within this would be another "Icarus clade", consisting of those 
archosaurs that had developed flight but had subsequently abandoned it for a 
return to a terrestrial existence (that is, had "fallen back to earth").  
Interestingly, and consistent with the legend and with Dinogeorge's theory, 
those archosaurs that were secondarily flightless eventually perished like the 
son Icarus, while the successful flyers survived like the father Daedalus.

Something for the group to muse about.

JMN


James M. Norton, Ph.D.
Department of Physiology & Pharmacology
University of New England
11 Hill's Beach Road
Biddeford, ME  04005
phone: (207)283-0171 x2270
fax: (207)286-9493
email: jnorton@mailbox.une.edu