Re: Origin of bird flight: ontogenetic-transitional wing (OTW) hypothesis

[don ohmes <d_ohmes@yahoo.com>]

Yep. If They Existed (ITE), they weren't birds, they were cursorial critters 
that used their gonna-be-wings-someday to catch insects. Or give a little 
locomotive assist across the varied terrains where small increments of thrust 
and/or lift can be advantageous to a biped.

Don

----- Original Message ----
From: David Marjanovic <david.marjanovic@gmx.at>
To: DML <dinosaur@usc.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2008 8:25:58 PM
Subject: Re: Origin of bird flight: ontogenetic-transitional wing (OTW) 
hypothesis

> No extant avian uses its forelimbs to catch prey, because these forms
 
> already have the forelimbs highly modified into wings; or else they
 are 
> flightless birds that evolved from forms that had the forelimbs
 highly 
> modified into wings.

"The present is not the key to the past. The past is the key to the
 present, 
and to the future."