Re: New refs... oh WOW!!!

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

> Middle Jurassic?  Really?  How firm is this dating?  I recall many
> preliminary reports asserting that the Lower Yixian Formation was Jurassic
> (which it is apparently not).

While the Yixian Fm is Barremian, the Daohugou Fm does -- so far -- appear
to be Middle Jurassic. That's the most important reason why
*Epidendrosaurus* (from the latter) and *Scansoriopteryx* (from the former)
are not considered synonymous.

> Either way, David's preliminary comments are
> astonishing to say the least!  I must see this for myself!

You can't. It's an April Fools joke.

> And here I thought that the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota was the key to
> understanding bird origins, early bird diversity, early mammal evolution,
> invertebrate diversity, Mesozoic ecosystem trophic interactions, and the
> origin of flowers.

Well. It's younger than *Noguerornis*, which is in any case closer to modern
birds than (to) Confuciusornithidae. Not to mention that it's again as much
younger than *Archaeopteryx*... while both "velociraptorine" and
dromaeosaurine teeth reach back at least to the Kimmeridgian! It has both
the basalmost eu- and the basalmost metatherian -- that's not "early" but
late mammal evolution. :o) In other words, it's absolutely awesome, but
still too young for many important questions.