RE: birds DID NOT evolve from therapods

["Tracy L. Ford" <dino.hunter@home.com>]

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-dinosaur@usc.edu [mailto:owner-dinosaur@usc.edu]On Behalf Of
Primal Dude
Sent: Monday, October 15, 2001 4:58 PM
To: dinosaur@usc.edu
Subject: birds DID NOT evolve from therapods


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.

>>that's their not theiur. I never new Doctor T. Holtz was a self-appointed
expert?


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.<<

That should read Ruben and his colleagues KNOW (not now) far more...Hmmm,
I'm sure glad Ruben et al have been able to test a LIVING dinosaur to check
its metabolism. Oh yea, they're all DEAD!!! (except birds).

>>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!<<

Damn, I knew I forgot to do something :) Glad to see you went to the SVP and
saw Hans Dieter-Sues et al talk on what those 'feathers' actually are.

>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!<<

You mean SUPERMAN isn't real?

>>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. <<

Obviously he has a time machine and has seen this.

>> 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<<

Yea and birds don't run/fly up trees. Oh wait they do.

>>But hey guess what fellas - Longisquama COULD GLIDE.<<

Can't remember anyone saying it didn't, could you tell us who said it
couldn't?

>>  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!!!<<

Well, I guess the gig is up, we all should stop studying dinosaurs because
Primal dude knows all. Time to start flipping burgers...

Well, P.D. please tell us what your work on dinosaurs is? By the by, just
how old are you?

Tracy L. Ford
P. O. Box 1171
Poway Ca  92074