Re: Pterosaur diversity (was: Re: Waimanu)

[Nick Pharris <npharris@umich.edu>]

Quoting Tim Williams <twilliams_alpha@hotmail.com>:

> I know there was a study by Hone et al. (2005) which claimed to show 
> that most dinosaurian lineages got larger over time.  But if you dig 
> a little deeper, the evidence is actually rather weak.  The same is 
> true of most of the attempts to demonstrate Cope's rule in other 
> lineages, with horses being the most (in)famous example.  Stephen Jay 
> Gould called Cope's rule a "psychological artifact".

After all, look what's happened to elephant shrews over the years.

--
Nick Pharris (who is very happy to be done with all his Ph.D. requirements!)
Department of Linguistics
University of Michigan

"Creativity is the sudden cessation of stupidity."
    --Edwin H. Land