Article Face-off

Two kinds of articles are going to face-off today on the issue of what Caudipteryx is. On one side we have one article discussing Caudipteryx as a stage in evolution from dinosaur to bird, or, as the abstract ends; "These new fossils represent stages in the evolution of birds from feathered, ground-living, bipedal dinosaurs." On the other side we have the reverse argument which states that Caudipteryx is not related to birds and is, in fact, only a theropod dinosaur. This article states that "there is no reason—phylogenetic, morphometric or otherwise—to conclude that Caudipteryx is anything other than a small non−avialan theropod dinosaur." For your reading pleasure I am also including an article on the origin of birds which examines both viewpoints and mentions many feathered dinosaurs such as Caudipteryx and Archeopteryx.