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Science 1 September 2006:
Vol. 313. no. 5791, p. 1238
DOI: 10.1126/science.1130800
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Technical Comments

Comment on "A Well-Preserved Archaeopteryx Specimen with Theropod Features"

Ian J. Corfe1,2* and Richard J. Butler3

On the basis of new information from the 10th specimen of Archaeopteryx, Mayr et al. (Reports, 2 December 2005, p. 1483) suggested that birds, or avian flight, originated twice. We investigate the statistical support for this phylogenetic hypothesis and show that it is no better supported by available morphological character data than the hypothesis of a single avian origin.

1 Department of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Queens Road, Bristol, BS8 1RJ, UK.
2 Department of Zoology, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK.
3 Department of Palaeontology, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: ian.corfe{at}bristol.ac.uk

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)