Is Mononykus a Bird?
1995; Oxford University Press; Volume: 112; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
10.2307/4089026
ISSN1938-4254
Autores Tópico(s)Fossil Insects in Amber
ResumoThe avian status of Mononykus is refuted in this paper through a detailed analysis of its supposed avian characters. An extensive comparison between it and fossorial mammals (especially moles), as well as various bipedal archosaurs, indicates that some of its resemblances to extant birds are digging adaptations. Most of the others can be explained either by its digging adaptation or by its obligatory bipedalism. In addition, many of its features, as compared with birds (including Archaeopteryx), seem to be too primitive for avian flight, and there is no evidence indicating that the absence of flight in Mononykus was secondarily lost.
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