[b_sharp]

Feathered dinosaurs liked flying so much they tried it twice.

Buitreraptor gonzalezorum, from the Neuquén Basin in central Argentina may provide tantalising evidence that powered flight evolved twice.

Details of the discovery appear in the academic journal Nature.

One theory suggests the lineage of dinosaurs the new animal belonged to, the dromaeosaurs, originated in the Cretaceous Period (144 to 65 million years ago).

But this discovery suggests their lineage can be traced further back in time, to the Jurassic (206 to 144 million years ago), experts say.

The authors say the discovery Rahonavis and Buitreraptor have long and wing-like forelimbs could imply that flight evolved twice, once in birds and once among this group of Gondwanan dromaeosaurs.

[js1138]

I'm not particularly thrilled by the idea of rooster-sized dinosaurs. My parents had an egg farm (free range) when I was a toddler, and the roosters attacked me at every opportunity. Think in terms of the early scene in Jurassic Park where the raptor's claw is demonstrated.

Spielberg's raptors were modeled after the behavior of fowl. I've seen those hunting techniques up close.

[VadeRetro]

We had a modest little thread on that guy. Yes, it would be nice if we found an older dromeosaur. That particular "rethinking" would get rid of the creationist argument that Archaeopteryx is "too old to be descended from dromeosaurs." (It basically IS a dromeosaur with flight adaptations, except it's a bird in some taxonomies.)

[shuckmaster]

Great link. Thanks!