Re: Microraptor hanqingi, new species from China.

["Habib, Michael" <MHabib@Chatham.edu>]

On May 25, 2012, at 6:45 PM, Don Ohmes wrote:

> I suppose predictions made by tree-roosting might include 1) limited 
> upstroke early on (that is, even after the appearance of a sophisticated 
> gliding wing), 2) that the perching foot would appear subsequent to 
> powered flight (full upstroke), not before -- and 3) the capability of 
> climbing vertically.

Cool.  Those seem consistent and reasonable.

> Given that the possibility of a tree-roosting lifestyle falsifies 
> certain assertions about the relevance of "arboreal adaptions" to bird 
> flight evolution, I think any statements that the "discussion" was not 
> fruitful are wrong.

I did not mean to imply the discussion was not fruitful, only that it could be 
more so with more specific predictions.

> 
>> If your assertion is, instead, that we'd see no difference in the 
> fossil record between a case a fully "terrestrial" origin and a 
> "terrestrial + tree roosting" origin [...]
> 
> Yes, that is my assertion, but relative only to pes morphology in small 
> cursorial, feathered, vertical-climbing, etc, etc...

Got it.


> I would think a strict ground-up scenario might predict a full 
> wingstroke early on, even when wings are rudimentary -- but suppose that 
> to be debatable.

Interesting thought.  You might be right on that; worth considering.

Cheers,

--Mike


Michael Habib
Assistant Professor of Biology
Chatham University
Woodland Road, Pittsburgh PA  15232
Buhl Hall, Room 226A
biologyinmotion@gmail.com
(443) 280-0181