Re: A New Hypothesis for the Origin of Flight?

["David Marjanovic" <david.marjanovic@gmx.at>]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Waylon Rowley" <whte_rbt_obj@yahoo.com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 30, 2002 4:58 AM

> It's also possible the retrices of
> Archaeopteryx helped make up the loss of mass.

Aren't feathers supposed to be lighter than tail vertebrae? (Or is that one
of those truisms?)

> Notice
> also that the distal caudals are more massive relative
> to those in a normal dromie tail. For what purpose?

Maybe just to make it stiffer -- few long instead of many short vertebrae
means fewer joints in the tail.

>    First, I don't see the animals hopping between
> branches. I see them as having a firm foothold on
> their *present* branch,

Thanks for the explanation... the above would be a good reason to evolve a
reverted hallux very early. Instead, it comes very late.

> I'm guessing their
> food source was further out on the branch....maybe
> seeds or fruits,

Hardly enough to make a living when there are few or no angiosperms around.