RE: Liaoningornis revised as enantiornithine (free pdf!)

[Mickey Mortimer <mickey_mortimer111@msn.com>]

It's great to see this taxon described well, as the prior descriptions by Hou 
were quite questionable, involving elements not present in birds like 
presterna.  Yet I'm saddened that O'Connor didn't credit Clarke (2002) as being 
the first author to place Liaoningornis within Enantiornithes, instead listing 
O'Connor (2009) as the first study.  Though just a thesis, Julia still deserves 
credit.

Clarke, 2002. The morphology and systematic position of Ichthyornis Marsh 
  and the phylogenetic relationships of basal Ornithurae. Ph.D. dissertation, 
  Yale University, New Haven, CT, 532 pp. 

Mickey Mortimer

----------------------------------------
> Date: Sat, 11 Feb 2012 13:41:32 -0800
> From: bcreisler@gmail.com
> To: dinosaur@usc.edu
> Subject: Liaoningornis revised as enantiornithine (free pdf!)
>
> From: Ben Creisler
> bscreisler@gmail.com
>
> Another paper in the new issue of Vertebrata PalAsiatica:
>
>
> Jingmai K. O’CONNOR (2012)
> A REVISED LOOK AT LIAONINGORNIS LONGIDIGITRUS (AVES).
> Vertebrata PalAsiatica 50(1): 25-37
> free pdf link:
> http://www.ivpp.cas.cn/cbw/gjzdwxb/xbwzxz/201202/P020120209569787717804.pdf
>
>
> Many of the earliest discovered ornithurine birds from the Jehol Group
> in northeastern China are highly fragmentary; this current study on
> the only known specimen of Liaoningornis longidigitrus, first
> described by Hou in 1997, indicates that the taxon is in fact a member
> of the Enantiornithes. Although based on fragmentary and poorly
> preserved material, the absence of a well-developed sternum, lack of
> developed cnemial crests on the tibiotarsi and reduced pedal unguals
> suggests Liaoningornis should be excluded from the more advanced
> ornithothoracine clade. The taxon remains distinct from all known
> enantiornithes, although it shows similarity to the Spanish taxon
> Eoalulavis hoyasi; shared features of the sternum suggest a close
> relationship between these two, although disparity from other
> enantiornithies suggests this may be an artifact of ontogeny. The only
> Liaoningornis specimen is too fragmentary to be able to make strong
> inferences about its placement within the diverse enantiornithine
> clade.