This is part of a new video series on theropods and birds
Click to view. YouTube video on birds and pterosaurs from Dr. Phil Currie
YouTube caption:
Week 4, Lecture 3 for the online course “Paleontology: Theropod Dinosaurs and the Origin of Birds”, taught by Philip John Currie, Ph.D. All rights belong to Coursera and University of Alberta. For educational purposes only. Happy learning!
Week 4, Lecture 3 for the online course “Paleontology: Theropod Dinosaurs and the Origin of Birds”, taught by Philip John Currie, Ph.D. All rights belong to Coursera and University of Alberta. For educational purposes only. Happy learning!
The new video
features all your favorites: Microraptor, Archaeopteryx, Deinonychus and some old John Ostrom hypotheses.
I added this comment:
The use of cartoons without skeletons undermines the scientific value of this project.
The use of cartoons without skeletons undermines the scientific value of this project.
Microraptor does not nest with dromaeosaurids in the large reptile tree, but with Ornitholestes and tyrannosaurs.
That cladogram does not document a secondary flightless condition in dromaeosaurids.
Pterosaurs are not related to dinosaurs, but are tritosaur lepidosaurs derived from taxa like Huehuecuetzpalli, Macrocnemus and Cosesaurus.
Pterosaur flight membrane does not attach to the lower leg. See
The Pterosaur Heresies 