Re: 11th specimen of Archaeopteryx

[Tim Williams <tijawi@gmail.com>]

Anthony Docimo <keenir@hotmail.com> wrote:

>  And yet Mesozoic mammalia didn't even rule the trees, so clearly the 
> vertebral mobility is perhaps being overhyped.


Arboreal (and at least scansorial) mammals are not uncommon in the
Mesozoic - athough they are not nearly as common as terrestrial
Mesozoic mammals.


>From off the top of my head, Mesozoic mammals that have been inferred
to be arboreal include basal eutherians such as _Juramaia_, _Eomaia_,
and _Deccanolestes_ (and other adapisoriculids); basal metatherians
such as _Sinodelphys_; as well as _Volaticotherium_ (which you
mentioned) and certain multituberculates.


> aaaah.  That must be when early _Falcarius_ decided "yeah, I want all my 
> descendants to eat this stuff."   :)


Well, the advantage of eating plants is that no chasing is involved.






Cheers

Tim