Re: Jeholornis

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

> I wouldn't be surprised.  Tail reduction seems to be a common trend in  
> coelurosaurs.  
  
I'd rather say tail elongation is one... :-) (basal dromies, basal  
oviraptorosaurs...)  
  
> What would be the 
> advantages and disadvantages of an all-zero outgroup? 
 
Advantage: It would work. Disadvantage: It'd be fictitious. It would be an 
expression of what I think the plesiomorphic states are, not an 
independent test of these opinions. But if that's the only way to keep the 
work below a complete coelurosaur analysis (I left the alvarezsaurs out 
for that purpose...), then I'll do it. Maybe I should add *Microraptor 
gui* as part of the ingroup, though. 
 
While I am at it, there is a famous paper that I can't get soon: Sanz, 
Chiappe & Buscalioni: The osteology of *Concornis lacustris* (Aves: 
Enantiornithes) from the Lower Cretaceous of Spain, and a reexamination of 
its phylogenetic relationships, American Museum Novitates 3133, 1 -- 23 
(1995). It is famous because it found an Avisauridae consisting of 
 
+--*Concornis* 
`--+--*Neuquenornis* 
   `--+--*Soroavisaurus* 
      `--*Avisaurus* (both species) 
 
although at one more step it collapsed. This topology has never been found 
again, leading me to suspect that the (only pedal) characters that were 
used either have a more chaotic distribution or have somehow been ignored 
in later works. Therefore, could someone retype me the matrix or at least 
the character list? I'd be very grateful (and mention you in the 
acknowledgements of the not-to-be-published would-be paper :-) ). 

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