re: Boreopterus snout holes

[david peters <davidrpeters@earthlink.net>]

If anyone is interested, my take on Boreopterus can be found at:

http://www.pterosaurinfo.com/boreopterus.html

Note that in the original illustration

http://www.pterosaurinfo.com/boreopterus_recon.html

The rostrum is drawn as traditional, that is, pristine â?? without holes 
anterior to the antorbital fenestra.

Using Photoshop, from half a world away, and without an airplane ticket or 
hotel bill, I was able to provide a smidge more detail. Thank you, Mike Hanson, 
for confirming that you also saw the holes in the snout. That validates the use 
of photography and the computer to establish details. Now, remember: _how_ we 
interpret those holes, and everything else about the skull, has nothing to do 
with Photoshop. 

At this point we can look at the ceiling and wonder what those holes are. Then 
we can look at other taxa to see if such holes are 'absent' or 'present'. 

If I can find similar holes bounded by the nasal (in pink) and the jugal (in 
blue) in other taxa preceding this one and trace the character back to its 
origins, then I have a case. Conveniently, you can follow the evidence at 
various places within www.pterosaurinfo.com. It's all in there.

On the other hand, if _anyone_ can find a pristine rostrum without similar 
holes bounded by the nasal and jugal _anywhere_ within the ornithocheiridae, 
cycnorhamphidae or any taxa following Scaphognathus, then you will have made 
your case. Of course, there could be identical bone rot in every specimen from 
every strata... but, that would be your evidence to present. You're also going 
to have to show that the nasal and jugal do not continue beyond the antorbital 
fenestra.

I look forward to seeing the evidence. And this _is_ science at its best. 

Only a _real_ pseudoscientist would use words in lieu of evidence. 

As always, my 'cards' are on the table. Where are yours?

David Peters
St. Louis

PS. And thank you, Jaime, for seconding the hypothesis of a separate naris in 
the Pterodactylus sp. AMNH 1942.