Fossil bird-ancestor

My fellow Nature Blogger, Christopher Taylor (a taxonomist in training - and likely to become a famous one, I am guessing) has posted an interesting message about "A New Stem-Bird and Publication in the Digital Age".

It sound dry as dust, but it is indeed interesting stuff (and well written).
http://catalogue-of-organisms.blogspot.com/2008/09/new-stem-bird-and-publication-in.html

He has a link to the original web publication which is entitled:
"A bizarre Jurassic maniraptoran from China with elongate ribbon-like feathers".

The Abstract concludes: "This finding shows that a member of the avialan lineage experimented with integumentary ornamentation as early as the Middle-Late Jurassic, and provides further evidence relating to this important aspect of the transition from non-avian theropods to birds."
Source: http://precedings.nature.com/documents/2326/version/1
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I translate that to mean, that there is yet another link in the chain between "dinosaurs" (not a precise usage of the term, but I'm sure you get my meaning) and birds.

I am posting this here, as I was making the point a few days ago (when discussing aggressive bird behaviour) that they really are just small feathered Dinosaur-descendants.

Hope you find these links to be of interest.

Denis