Reply to “Limusaurus and bird digit identity” (original) (raw)

Nature Precedings (2011)Cite this article

Abstract

Vargas et al. agree with us that a lateral shift in theropod dinosaur digits occurred prior to the origin of birds, but contend that it occurred as a single “frameshift” with little outward change to the three main digits involved^1^. We consider the digital morphology of Limusaurus, other ceratosaurs, and non-avian tetanurans to provide evidence that the shift was stepwise, and that a stepwise shift better explains theropod manual morphology than a hidden frameshift.

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  1. Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Beijing https://www.nature.com/nature
    Xing Xu, David Hone & Corwin Sullivan
  2. Department of Biological Sciences, George Washington University https://www.nature.com/nature
    James Clark & Jonah Choiniere

Authors

  1. Xing Xu
  2. James Clark
  3. Jonah Choiniere
  4. David Hone
  5. Corwin Sullivan

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Correspondence toXing Xu.

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Xu, X., Clark, J., Choiniere, J. et al. Reply to “Limusaurus and bird digit identity”.Nat Prec (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/npre.2011.6375.1

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