Re: Darwin's young dead pet from Messel

["K and T Dykes" <ktdykes@arcor.de>]

I've been looking at a photo I've got of an earlier primate find from 
Messel; a pelvis with rear legs of a male.  In contrast to /Darwinius/ it 
has the expected grooming claw on the second toe of the foot.  That's set me 
wondering about the added parts of the doctored B-plate in the new 
publication.  That's the plate that found its way to some private museum in 
Wyoming by some means or other.

Apart from seeming to be a bit big, it looks like a heck of a good 
impersonation of the foot of the A-plate.  Admittedly, the big toe looks too 
thin, but that could conceivably be due to a somewhat different angle.  I 
can't see any sign of a grooming claw.

Whoever did those "improvements" had some interesting odds and ends 
available, which presumably came from Messel.