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

["Timothy Williams" <twilliams_alpha@hotmail.com>]

ELurio@aol.com wrote:

> Kangaroo RATS, Springhaars, some south American Marsupials whose name > 
> escape me

Argyrolagids?

> and leptocids, which went extinct during the Oligicene and resembled >a 
> cross between a rat and a t-rex.

Leptictids - a cross between a rat and a t-rex?  I for one am quite glad 
they went extinct - wouldn't want these things scurrying about in my sewer.


> Okay, lets assume for the moment that Logismama(sic) is a protobird 
> unrelated
> to dinosaurs beyond the early archisauromorphs.
> Then it or it's very close
> reletive evolved into birds and those parabirds with the feathers that were
> found in China.

Like _Longisquama_, this idea is never going to fly.  These "parabirds" of 
yours (_Caudipteryx_ etc) are most likely true theropods, just like 
_Tyrannosaurus_ and _Oviraptor_ and _Coelophysis_.


> You then have the Jurrassic/Cretaceous exinction event, whatever it was. As
> most of the birds living at the time had clawed wings and lots of teeth,
> there would be several ecological nitches to fill. Secondary flightlessness
> similier to modern ratites, but with teeth and claws. What do you have? A
> critter that looks superficially like a theropod. It has been shown
> conclusivley that many so-called theropods like maniraptors and orthomimids
> are extremely birdlike.

Phew!  What a convoluted explanation!  Although with a few minor 
refinements, I think you're on the road to independently discovering BCF.  
Watch out George!

;-)


Tim
________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com