Talk:Microraptor

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[edit] NPOV of Naming

and second, because they do not want Olson's nomenclatural sabotage to succeed.

I don't think this meets NPOV. It might be the view of "Most paleontologists", but then it should be mentioned that this is their POV. I propose:

and second, because they view Olson's name as "nomenclatural sabotage" and do not want to support it. - Jokermage 06:37:17, 2005-08-28 (UTC)

[edit] Species

There are two species in the genus Microraptor, M. gui and M. zhaoianus. M. gui is the 4-winged species, but zhaoianus were only an arboreal dinosaur withouth wings. This article is wrong. Maniraptor

The type specimen of M. zhaoianus is too poorly preserved (compared to M. gui) to deduce the extent of its wings. The fact that Cryptovolans pauli (which may also be a species of Microraptor) has the same four-wing body plan suggests that all members of the family Microraptoria had similar wings. Incidentally, Senter et al 2004 find that M. zhaoianus, M. gui, and C. pauli are all the same species anyway (M. zhaoianus). --Dinoguy2 04:46, 5 November 2005 (UTC)


Recently PBS aired a Nova or Nature episode where it was proved the microraptor did NOT fly biplane style but did leap & glide from tree to tree and the hind legs & tail overlapped in a way to form a delta wing. To land, the dino lowered its rear legs which then acted as a brake. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/microraptor/ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.179.30.13 (talk) 11:06, 9 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Archaeoraptor

The Archaeoraptor page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaeoraptor) says that Storrs Olson actually did not establish Archaeoraptor liaoningensis as a new taxon, so Archaeoraptor liaoningensis Olson, 2000 is a nomen nudum. Therefore, update the writing under the section "Naming".

Storrs L. Olson, 2000. Countdown to Piltdown at National Geographic: the rise and fall of Archaeoraptor. Backbone, newsletter of the Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, 13(2) (April): 1–3.

[edit] 3 | Naming

"So, according to some interpretations of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, the valid name for this dinosaur probably is Archaeoraptor liaoningensis Olson 2000."

Is it right for 'Olsen 2000' to appear after the name without any punctuation or anything? w00tboy 23:41, 24 February 2007 (UTC)