Re: Doesn't George have a point?

["Ken Kinman" <kinman@hotmail.com>]

Larry,
    Obviously any such temporal problem in the fossil records raises some 
doubt, but in this case I wouldn't call them serious doubts.
    Choristoderes were only known from Cretaceous to Eocene until the late 
1980's, when Evans found one in the mid Jurassic, and possibly pushed back 
to Trassic by a form described about 1996 (I forget the name).
    And if Lazarussuchus of the Oligocene is sister group to the rest of 
the choristoderes, then that raises a huge temporal problem, but not too 
terribly serious, considering the rarity of these fossils.
                     Cheers, Ken Kinman
P.S.  I do find George's BCF hypothesis very interesting, however, and I 
think that it is a possibility that should be carefully considered.  I 
certainly am.
*******************************************************
> From: Larry Dunn <majestic_cheese@yahoo.com>
> Reply-To: majestic_cheese@yahoo.com
> To: dinosaur@usc.edu
> Subject: Doesn't George have a point?
> Date: Thu, 29 Jun 2000 14:56:37 -0700 (PDT)
>
> Not that I believe that dinosaurs evolved from birds
> per se (?A planet where apes evolved from men?!?!??),
> but doesn?t George have a point when he says that the
> lack of a suitable known dinosaur ancestor of birds in
> the appropriate time period raises some really serious
> doubts as to the dinosaur ancestry of dinosaurs?
>
> I guess this is actually a question about the
> scientific method as it relates to paleontology.
> Doesn?t the formation of this hypothesis require that
> the temporal bit fall into place as well?  As I
> understand the facts, there currently isn?t any
> specimen of a suitable coelurosaur predating the
> earliest fossil birds.  Doesn?t that have any bearing
> on the formation of a hypothesis?  (Or is this wrong?)
>   Can scientists say, ?other things look very good for
> our hypothesis, but we?ll need to keep looking for an
> appropriately early ancestor,? and still have a valid
> hypothesis?
>
> And what is the status of the idea until the suitable
> piece of information comes along?
>
> This is not a rhetorical question, or a statement of a
> position.  It is a quest ... for the truth (dramatic
> music).
>
>
> =====
> Larry
>
> "I've been ionized, but I'm OK now."
>
> http://members.tripod.com/~megalania/index.html
>
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