Say this slowly: theropoda is paraphylitic, theropoda is paraphlyitic.....

[ELurio@aol.com]

It's interesting to note that none of the proponents of the dino/bird nexus 
have even *thought* of the idea that theropoda might be paraphyletic. I mean 
bipedalism is known from some non-dinosaurian thecodonts and Triassic crocs. 
Bipedalism has evolved a minimum of FIVE times among mammals.

The feathered "dinosaurs" found in China are exiting and valuable finds to be 
sure, but has it occurred to anyone here that maniraptors may not be 
dinosaurs at all? This latest news has given us a real treasure. A site to 
look for soft-part fossils of Rheto-Liassic age. With Kyrgistan no longer 
part of the Soviet Union, we can get our scientists in there and find other 
and better specimens.

eric l.