Re: Ornithomimid beaks

["Mickey Mortimer" <Mickey_Mortimer11@msn.com>]

T. Mike Keesey wrote-

> I was under the impression that confuciusornithids (one of the two
> daughter clades of _Pygostylia_) had beaks. Do you think that beaks
> evolved multiple times within _Pygostylia_?

Yes, confuciusornithids have beaks (as proven by the holotype of
Confuciusornis dui), but I don't see evidence for them in several
enantiornithines (Cathayornis, Cuspirostrisornis, Largirostrornis, Spanish
nestling, etc.) and basal pygostylians (Protopteryx, Jibeinia).  I recall
Paul (1988) advocated a rostral premaxillary beak on dromaeosaurids and
Archaeopteryx.  If present in dromaeosaurids, this type of beak could easily
be present in such basal pygostylians, but I forget what evidence Paul used
for this type of thing in the first place.

Mickey Mortimer