Re: New Papers of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

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

> Agreed.  I didn't have any biogeographical hypothesis in mind when I 
> brought up the fact that dromaeosaurids had been reported from all modern 
> continents.  But now that you mention it, it either means that the 
> appearance of dromaeosaurids pre-dates the break-up of Pangaea; or that 
> early dromaeosaurids could fly, and didn't need land connections to get 
> from one landmass to another.  But even if the latter was true (I think 
> the jury is still out), you have to wonder if their flight abilities were 
> adequate for long flights.

Well, the breakup of Pangaea only started for biogeographical purposes 
around the Early-Late Cretaceous boundary when Africa broke off of South 
America and apparently lost the spinosaur connection to Europe (...and 
Thailand). The Kimmeridgian "dromaeosaurine" teeth from Guimarota are much 
older than that.