Scarcity of creatous birds (was Re: seeds and pterosaurs)

[HPBredow@aol.com]

Scarcity of creatous birds (Was: Re: seeds and pterosaurs)

<< In a message dated 9/7/99 3:39:31 PM EST, HPBredow@aol.com writes:

 It has been assumed that,  especially in the Cretaceous when the first 
higher flowering plants appeared,  it was pterosaurs in particular who 
distributed the seeds, as bird faunas were still relatively sparse at the 
time. >>

<< DinoGeorge wrote in a message dated 09/07/1999
Don't bet on sparsity of Cretaceous bird faunas! Bet only on sparsity of  
fossil record of Cretaceous birds. >>

I don't bet at all on scarcity of cretaceous bird faunas. I just quoted "The 
illustrated encyclopedia of Pterosaurs" by Peter Wellnhofer relating to 
possible pterosaur feeding on seeds. Should have left out "as bird faunas 
were still relatively sparse at the time." 

I'm much to aware of the fact that if something hasn't been found, it does'nt 
neccesarilly mean it didn't exist.

To quote again from "The illustrated encyclopedia of Pterosaurs":
" Almost all pterosaur fossil finds come from marine deposits near the coast. 
The potential for fossilization in terrestrial upland areas was much too 
slight for delicate, fragile pterosaur skeletons to survive.They were crushed 
and destroyed by weathering, erosion and the action of flowing river water. 
Thus we are faced with a situation comparrable with knowing only the shore 
birds of the 9,000 species of birds alive today."

This is just the situation we face with extinct cretaceous birds. Unluckily 
this also applies to maniraptorans and other small animals. IMHO there may 
have been a diversity of birds and maniraptorans without ever knowing about 
them. 

According to David Norman in "Prehistoric Life" fossils of the early reptile 
Hylonomus were found in fossilized tree stumps.(still a valid view?). Would 
be a possiblity for finding these small critters, but I think normally they 
were to agile to be caught that way.

I hope that I haven't mixed up too much.


Greetings from Germany

Heinz Peter Bredow
Bremen/Germany


BTW: Is there a good up to date book (late or middle nineties) about 
cretacous birds? Thanks for any suggestion.