Re: Bird flight once more (was Re: What is a Dinosaur? and semilunate carpal)

[Dinogeorge@aol.com]

In a message dated 9/6/01 4:49:29 PM EST, david.marjanovic@gmx.at writes:

<< Wings can
 easily have evolved (on an already feathered animal, contra BAND) for
 brooding -- and here marginally longer feathers _in the exact right places_
 mean marginally more room for eggs means directly more offspring. It can
 hardly become more Darwinian. >>

And how does, e.g., a stiffened tail help the animal with brooding feathers 
on its forelimbs? And how does a distally articulated hallux help the animal 
with brooding feathers on its forelimbs? And how do stiffened forelimbs help 
an animal with brooding feathers in its wings? And where does small size fit 
into this mishmash? It is not just the characters that are acquired, it is 
also the order in which they are acquired that needs to be accounted for. BCF 
accounts for this as well as for the characters themselves.

Dinosaurs acquire character A for this reason, B for that reason, characters 
C, D, E, F, and G for various other reasons, and suddenly we have a flying 
BIRD! Gack!