New Papers

["Jerry D. Harris" <dinogami@hotmail.com>]

The refs just keep pouring in...

This batch is from _Neues Jahrbuch fur Geologie und Palaontologie 
Abhandlungen_ 217(1)(2000):

Kaiser, G.W. Alternative origins for flight in birds. pp. 27-39.

I think this one warrants putting the abstract here:

"Three origins for flight in birds are discuseed in terms of adaptive 
scenarios. The discovery of feathered but flightless dinosaurs in China 
suggests that many of the adaptations in birds, currently considered as 
components of flight, might better be considered as requirements for the 
success of feathers and the development of feathers may well have been a 
more important event in bird evolution than the development of flight. The 
existence of an array of potential ancestors with feathers and the success 
of large groups of birds without volant representatives suggest that flight 
might have evolved more than once."

...and the inevitable rebuttal (which gives a clue as to the theme of the 
former):

Pfretzschner, H.-U. Is aquatic habit really an alternative origin for flight 
in birds? pp. 41-43.

Lastly...

Larsson, H.C.E. and Gado, B. A new Early Cretaceous crocodyliform from 
Niger. pp. 131-141.

Named _Stolokrosuchus lapparenti_.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jerry D. Harris
Dept of Earth & Environmental Science
University of Pennsylvania
240 S 33rd St
Philadelphia PA  19104-6316
Phone: (215) 898-5630
Fax: (215) 898-0964
E-mail: jdharris@sas.upenn.edu
and     dinogami@hotmail.com

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