From Michael Elson:

Re: Odd bird fathering styles may come from dinos (Dec. 18): When was this theory of dinosaurs-to-birds first mooted? I do a lot reading on palaeontology and have never seen any convincing evidence of that at all. Most convincing to ‘professional’ students on the subject, appears to be “the close relationship of scales to feathers... . ”. Seems to them to be cast in stone (pun intended). It is the keratin that they are glued to as this ‘evidence’.

Don’t they know that keratin is the basis of skin, hair, feathers, horn, nails, claws, hooves and scales? That embraces a whole lot of very diverse animal life, from fish to rhinoceroses and birds to buffalos - not to mention reptiles. Plus there are other forms of life where the male is responsible for the rearing of the young - even fish. How about the lungs of birds compared to dinosaurs? Birds’ lungs are the most efficient lungs on the planet, and far more complex than the reptiles - and mammals. And cold blood to warm blood? Warty skin to feather-covered skin? Come on, you guys..... .

There is not even any lineage provided (a la Darwin, although that too is fraught with huge pot holes... ) like a series of fossils from dinosaurs to the archeopteryx to modern birds. I wonder why scientists persist with this line of ‘thought’? Nothing better to do, perhaps? It’s the same with their idiotic ape to man theory - Darwin again. Again - where’s the hard evidence? Don’t give me “theories”.