Archaeopterygid bird from China

[Ken Kinman]

John,
     Well, if you read both of my posts, you will see that my hypothesis is that Archaeopterygidae arose in "Asia", which is hardly a restricted area.  I would restrict it slightly in excluding India (which didn't crash into Asia until much later).  If I wanted to restrict it further, I might say eastern Asia is more likely than western Asia, but that is still a big area.

     Also note that there is no evidence that this Chinese archaeopterygid is older than Archaeopteryx.  At best it is perhaps roughly the same age, but could easily be younger (early Cretaceous).  Actually I hope it is younger, because then I would expect we will find even more primitive archaeopterygids when we do find a Jurassic form in Asia (China, Tibet, or elsewhere).  If this form shows up in Afghanistan, no big deal (it's still in Asia).  I just don't expect to find such fossils in South America or Antarctica (or even North America, for that matter).  If Archaeopteryx continues to be the oldest known genus, I still won't be hypothesizing Europe as the family's origin (although that would be my second choice after Asia).
   --- Ken Kinman