Living dinosaur found (+video)

reply to post by DutchBigBoy


No one on the planet claims that pterosaurs evolved into birds. Pterosaurs, first of all, weren't even dinosaurs, they were reptiles.

It is dromeosaurs that evolved into birds, and yes there is hard evidence for it.

Archeopteryx

reply to post by Titen-Sxull


I can't call this hard evidence. It is stated in the article that these are still speculations.

Archaeopteryx continues to play an important part in scientific debates about the origin and evolution of birds. Some scientists see it as a semi-arboreal climbing animal, following the idea that birds evolved from tree-dwelling gliders (the "trees down" hypothesis for the evolution of flight proposed by O.C. Marsh). Other scientists see Archaeopteryx as running quickly along the ground, supporting the idea that birds evolved flight by running (the "ground up" hypothesis proposed by Samuel Wendell Williston). Still others suggest that Archaeopteryx might have been at home both in the trees and on the ground, like modern crows, and this latter view is what today is considered best-supported by morphological characters. Altogether, it appears that the species was not particularly specialized for running on the ground or for perching. Considering the current knowledge of flight-related morphology, a scenario outlined by Elżanowski in 2002, namely that Archaeopteryx used its wings mainly to escape predators by glides punctuated with shallow downstrokes to reach successively higher perches, and alternatively to cover longer distances by (mainly) gliding down from cliffs or treetops, appears quite reasonable.

hypothesis, supporting ideas, suggestions, that is what I am reading here. All these arguments are outlined possible scenario's.

reply to post by DutchBigBoy


The scientific community isn't sure how Archeopteryx used its wings, in no way does that mean they dispute its importance as a transitional fossil between dinosaur and bird.