Re: Island-dwelling dinosaurs (was Re: Gargantuavis neck vertebra)

[Andreas Johansson <andreasj@gmail.com>]

On Sun, Jun 17, 2012 at 11:38 PM, David Marjanovic
<david.marjanovic@gmx.at> wrote:
>>  Do we really know this?
>
>
> Of course not. :-)
>
>
>>  Especially for the ratites: how good is our timing of the origin of
>>  flightlessness in this bunch?
>
>
> The oldest rhea, *Diogenornis*, is Paleocene. Because it's recognizable as a
> rhea, I suppose it's known to be flightless.

Is it a crown rhea? If not, oughtn't the ratite paraphyly idea suggest
we shouldn't assume it flightless just because it's on the rhea
lineage?

-- 
Andreas Johansson

Why can't you be a non-conformist just like everybody else?