[Taxacom] New systematics book

[Richard Jensen]

Hi Ken,

I recall a recent report that Archaeopteryx may not be the oldest bird - or
feathered dinosaur, which ever is your preference.

Dick J


On Tue, Sep 10, 2013 at 1:35 PM, Ken Kinman <kinman at hotmail.com> wrote:

> Dear All,
>
>
>
>      Since we will never have anything near a complete fossil record, we
> will always have gaps that make drawing the boundary lines easier.  The
> gaps in the theropod to bird transition have narrowed, but are still
> substantial.
>
>
>
>       The question is whether we should continue to regard Archaeopterx as
> the first bird, or draw the line within an earlier gap.  Hopefully we will
> find a gap that has a fossilizable character (or group of characters) that
> evolved relatively quickly, like the transformation of jaw bones into the
> three ear bones which marks the boundary between reptiles and the first
> mammals (endothermy was no help there either).
>
>
>
>           ------Ken
>
>
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> > Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2013 09:02:31 +0200
> > From: aphodiinaemate at gmail.com
> > To: taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
> > Subject: Re: [Taxacom] New systematics book
> >
> > Curtis Clark wrote:
> > >One by one, the synapomorphies of
> > >"birds" fall deeper into the theropods as we learn more.
> >
> > If we had access to fossils for every species that has ever lived our
> > classifications would be one large list of species names. And if we had
> > access to fossils of all populations of every species that has ever lived
> > we probably wouldn´t have species either.
> >
> >
> > On 10 September 2013 05:44, Curtis Clark <lists at curtisclark.org> wrote:
> >
> > > On 2013-09-09 8:09 AM, Fred Schueler wrote:
> > > > * if reptilia is a grade, "Birds are descended from Reptiles" is
> just a
> > > > way of saying "endothermy is an avian apomorphy."
> > >
> > > Aye, there's the rub. The evidence of endothermy in non-avian dinosaurs
> > > is pervasive if not conclusive. One by one, the synapomorphies of
> > > "birds" fall deeper into the theropods as we learn more.
> > >
> > > --
> > > Curtis Clark http://www.csupomona.edu/~jcclark
> > > Biological Sciences +1 909 869 4140
> > > Cal Poly Pomona, Pomona CA 91768
> > >
> > >
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> Celebrating 26 years of Taxacom in 2013.
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-- 
Richard Jensen, Professor
Department of Biology
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, IN 46556