Posted by Gremlin [12.211.200.127 - 12-211-200-127.client.attbi.com] on 10 March 2003 at 20.20.31 ZuluTime:

In Reply to: What kind of scientist cites his own articles? posted by Hunter on 10 March 2003 at 20.11.41 ZuluTime:

1. Is Archaeopteryx really the 'oldest known bird'?

A.lithographica is old and birdlike. Whether it's actually a bird is still being debated. In general, P.texensis is considered to be the oldest known bird.

2. Do we have anything like this guy is asking for? Something that's technically the 'transition' between 'scales' and 'feathers'?

Like scutes? Yeah; we have those.

3. When did birds first show up?

Jurassic Period.

4. Here's a difficult one. What's the 'average size' of a theropod? This guy's making it out to sound like they were all fairly large, or something....