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Henri Rönkkö wrote-
Dromaeosaurids have tails whose shafts are
stiffended by bony rods. The bases of these tails are very mobile, though. The
tail of Archaeopteryx seems to have a rather flexible base too, while the
shaft isn't particularily supple. I would like to know if some kinf of bony rods
are known to exist in the tail of Archaeopteryx too.
No, Archaeopteryx has rather short prezygopophyses
extending less than a third of the way across the previous vertebra. It's
chevrons are also very short compared to dromaeosaurids. The only taxa
which are currently known to have tails stiffened with elongate prezygopophyses
and chevrons are dromaeosaurids, Achillobator, Bambiraptor, Sinornithosaurus,
cf. Sinornithosaurus and Microraptor. Other theropods like troodontids,
Rahonavis, Archaeopteryx and alvarezsaurids lack such structures.
Mickey Mortimer
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