birds DID NOT evolve from therapods

["Primal Dude" <primal_dude@hotmail.com>]

I have been reading the archives recently and I have been struck by the 
venomousness of the attacks on anyone who DARES contradict the fanciful 
notion that birds evolved from therapod dinosaurs. I was so disgusted I 
opened a hotmail account and subscribed to this list, just to air my views.

Such self-appointed ?experts? as Thomas Holtz, Jaime Haedden, Mickey 
Mortimer, Tim Williams, and George Olshevky seem barely able to disguise 
theiur contempt for such a esteemed, world-respected scientist as John 
Ruben.

Case in point, from MM:

> Maderson, Hillenius, Martin, Ruben, Jones and Geist, 2001. >Reconstructing 
> Longisquama skin. JVP 21(3) 76A.
> The most amusing abstract by far.  The poster was decorated with >colorful 
> spiral graphs and frowning faces.  Apparently they realize >they will never 
> convince anyone Longisquama has feathers, so now they >are termed 
> "parafeathers".  Not only this, but Longisquama also is >said to have 
> parasheaths, paracalami, pararachis, parabarbs and >paraveins.  
> Parabelievable.

Laugh all you want buddy. Ruben and his colleagues now far more about 
vertebrate metabolism than you ever will. Birds are WARM-BLOODED. Therapod 
dinosaurs were COLD-BLOODED. Didn?t you read his two papers in Science...??? 
No I suppose not - too busy spitting venom at Ruben and co.

Longisquama is about as close as we?re going to get to the origin of birds. 
Get used to that fact. Ruben is ON THE BALL!!> And Al Feduccia too. try 
reading his book - you'll actually learn something guys!

> From TH Jr?

> I am going to state publically that I now agree that Greg Paul et al. are
> almost certainly correct in the following aspect: the broad feathers and 
> the
> forelimb adapations of dromaeosaurids, troodontids, and oviraptorosaurs are
> almost certainly associated with an avian style form of locomotion.

Not content with putting feathers on therapods now you want to put wings on 
them as well.  Yeah, that?s right Tom ? velociraptor could fly. Just like 
Superman. Dream on!

As for the rest of you ? WAKE UP!! Therapods couldn?t leap from trees (pay 
attention TW and GO !!), no matter how vivid your imagination is.  TW - all 
your posts about birds and gliding vertebrates convince me you nknow nothing 
about either. Aboreal therapods? - dream on!
GO ("Dinogeorge") - ditto!
JH - your nonsense about therapod biomechanics only reveals the extant of 
your ignorance

But hey guess what fellas ? Longisquama COULD GLIDE.  And Megalancosaurus 
too. These are the kind of critters which gave rise to birds - not your 
land-living therapods. T-rex in trees? - not on this universe.

You therapod people are living in a fantasy world. Get back to earth and 
join the rest of us!!!


P.D.


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