NGS archaeoraptor stuff

["John R. Hutchinson" <jrhutch@socrates.berkeley.edu>]

> This just in from NGS:
> http://www.nationalgeographic.com/events/releases/pr000203.html

ARCHAEORAPTOR STATEMENT

   For Immediate Release

WASHINGTON-Based on the best scientific information available at press time,
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC reported on the Archaeoraptor fossil in the
November issue of the magazine.

Only after the magazine had been published did NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC learn
about the possibility that the fossil might be a composite. If it is 
a composite, it
initially escaped detection by a team of scientists that included top 
experts on bird
origins.

We immediately began an investigation into the matter and took the 
earliest possible
opportunity to publish a disclosure of the new information in NATIONAL
GEOGRAPHIC magazine (March 2000). We were obviously disappointed to hear
that Archaeoraptor might be a composite and are committed to getting to the
bottom of the mystery of this fossil. The magazine will report the 
findings to its
readers.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC is currently in negotiations with scientists in China
and the U.S. to get the fossils together for an independent review. 
This is the only
 way to determine conclusively if Archaeoraptor is a composite.

We also funded the original CT scanning work on the fossil and hope to see the
published analysis in a peer-reviewed journal soon.

Regardless of Archaeoraptor, most paleontologists have been convinced for some
time that birds emerged from dinosaurs. This is based on a wealth of evidence
unrelated to any of the current fossils from China.