Re: Greg Paul is right (again); or "Archie's not a birdy"

[Jura <pristichampsus@yahoo.com>]

 ----- Original Message -----

> From: Mike Taylor <mike@indexdata.com>
> To: keesey@gmail.com
> Cc: Dinosaur Mailing List <dinosaur@usc.edu>
> Sent: Wednesday, 27 July 2011 4:36 PM
> Subject: Re: Greg Paul is right (again); or "Archie's not a birdy"
> 
> On 27 July 2011 18:34, Mike Keesey <keesey@gmail.com> wrote:
>>  On Wed, Jul 27, 2011 at 10:20 AM, Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. 
> <tholtz@umd.edu> wrote:
>>> 
>>>  An Archaeopteryx-like theropod from China and the origin of Avialae
>>> 
>>>  Xing Xu,         Hailu You,      Kai Du  & Fenglu Han
>>>  Nature 475, 465–470 (28 July 2011) doi:10.1038/nature10288
>>>  Received 16 November 2010 Accepted 10 June 2011 Published online 27 
> July 2011
>>> 
>>>  Archaeopteryx is widely accepted as being the most basal bird, and
>>>  accordingly it is regarded as central to understanding avialan origins;
>>>  however, recent discoveries of derived maniraptorans have weakened the
>>>  avialan status of Archaeopteryx. Here we report a new 
> Archaeopteryx-like
>>>  theropod from China. This find further demonstrates that many features
>>>  formerly regarded as being diagnostic of Avialae, including long and
>>>  robust forelimbs, actually characterize the more inclusive group 
> Paraves
>>>  (composed of the avialans and the deinonychosaurs). Notably, adding the
>>>  new taxon into a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis shifts 
> Archaeopteryx
>>>  to the Deinonychosauria. Despite only tentative statistical support, 
> this
>>>  result challenges the centrality of Archaeopteryx in the transition to
>>>  birds. If this new phylogenetic hypothesis can be confirmed by further
>>>  investigation, current assumptions regarding the avialan ancestral
>>>  condition will need to be re-evaluated.
>> 
>>  Very cool!
>> 
>>  Yet another reason why the definition of "Aves" should not rest 
> on
>>  _Archaeopteryx_.
> 
> Really?
> 
> Wouldn't it have been AT LEAST equally cool to have reported this
> study under the headline Velociraptor Was A Bird?
> 
> -- Mike.

+++++++++++++++++++++
ar) unmentioned part of this story is what happens to Aves.

Jason
>