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

[GSP1954@aol.com]

There was no way that small armed Epidexipteryx flew. But its actual 
phylogenetic placement is tenuous and it may have descended from Jurassic 
fliers. 
I doubt we will ever be able to sort a lot of this out. In any case my basic 
notion was that Archaeopteryx was less derived than some "dinosaurs," and 
that some of the latter were secondarily flightless, which seems to be 
holding up pretty well. 

GSPaul 


In a message dated 7/28/11 9:34:25 AM, jaseb@amnh.org writes:

<< The new paper on Xiaotingia places scansoriopterygids as the most basal 
avialans, and Xu has opined that Epidexipteryx was flightless, raising the 
possibility (though by no means requiring) that the last common ancestor of 
Archaeopteryx and crown group birds was flightless.

That doesn't fit your theory, correct? >>

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