Re: Microraptor ate birds

[Erik Boehm <erikboehm07@yahoo.com>]

--- On Thu, 11/10/11, Tim Williams <tijawi@gmail.com> wrote:
> So an ambush attack from above seems the
> most plausible,
> with the feathers providing guidance during the
> descent.  We're back
> to the Pouncing Proavis model.
> 

Of course, Microraptor's use of its wings for aerodynamic purposes is not 
necessarily the same use that lead to to bird wings.

I'm sure the transitional uses for wings in Bats, Pterosaurs, insects, etc were 
all different. There is no reason to think there wouldn't be different 
transitional uses among the maniraptors.

Just because the "pouncing proavis" model fits with what we know of 
microraptor, doesn't mean it fits for the ancestors of Microraptor's bird 
prey(or scavenged meals?)

- I still want to know if "wings" are ancestral to dromeosaurs- are microaptors 
wings a case of parallel evolution, or were wings present at the split from 
birds and dromeosaurs?
Its a particularly attractive idea to me for some reason (ie: I want it to be 
true, I admit my bias)