Ornithothoraces deconstructed

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by Harpagornis

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Remember the outgroups I mentioned?

A) is the typical topology for Paraves, give or take. This particular result is derived from the Hartman 2019 version with characters for Enantiornithes and Jinguofortithidae added.

B) is what happens when you disregard the supposed homologies of Ornithothoraces. Its now proven that the enantiornithean sternum and the ornithuromorph sternum evolved independently (Zheng 2012), so revisions are in order.

C) is taking O'Connor 2019's advice and regarding the anatomy of the digestive system as phylogenetic signal. Enants, confuciusornithids, dromaeosaurs and archaeopterygids had no crop nor gizzard while troodontids, scansoriopterygids, anchiornithids, sapeornithids and others had evidence of either pellets or gastroliths. Plus, archaeopterygids, dromaeosaurids and enants had slow growth rates while taxa close to modern birds had faster ones.

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