CONTROVERSIAL ALVAREZSAURUS

[darren.naish@port.ac.uk]

Nick Pharris writes...    

> _Alvarezsaurus_ has a short mtII and divergent second toe (Bonaparte
> 1991, p. 98), which may be evidence that the alvarezsaurs had
> hyperextensible toes/sickle claws in their ancestry, which jibes 
> well with Dr. Holtz's scenario (incidentally, I agree with Chiappe 
> that the alvarezsaurs are just outside the (Archie + Neornithes) 
> clade--_Alvarezsaurus_'s feet and hips are entirely 
> un-ornithomimid-like.)

Saying this could get me into trouble: but _Alvarezsaurus calvoi_ 
really is the odd one out of the alvarezsaurids - is it really 
related to the _Mononykus_ group? This is a rhetorical question, and
not one that I am asking an answer for. Is apparently set to be 
reviewed in print.

"It is almost as if we have become the wolves"

DARREN NAISH
darren.naish@port.ac.uk