Re: More on Argentavis

[Michael Habib <mhabib5@jhmi.edu>]

As one more quick aside, I did raise an eyebrow at this interview 
comment:

"Heavier birds such as the ostrich had to give up flight."

Granted, ostriches appear to be well above the maximum mass for a 
volant bird (though not the limit for volant vertebrates as a whole, 
see pterosaurs...), but many ratites are not.  Am I mistaken in saying 
that the evidence suggests an increase to ostrich size *after* loss of 
volancy, rather than a loss of flight in the specific lineage leading 
to ostriches as size reached maximum launch limits?

Cheers,

--Mike H.