The following item came over the Associated Press wire and was printed in
_The Washington Post_ on Monday, April 19, 1993, in "Science Notebook" on
Page A2:


   Paleontology: Another Clude to Origin of Birds

     A long-legged, turkey-sized bird with powerful claws instead of wings
   and dinosaur traits such as a long tail and teeth sprinted in Mongolia
   about 70 million years ago, a fossil study says.

     The flightless creature represents a "bizarre new group of birds," and
   its characteristics may help scientists better understand the origins of
   birds, said researcher Mark Norell.

     The discovery of two well-preserved fossil specimens is reported in the
   current issue of Nature by Norell, of the American Museum of Natural
   History in New York, with colleagues there and in Mongolia.

     The creature combine bird characteristics and dinosaur traits, and its
   skeletal features show it is more closely related to modern birds than is
   the well-known, older _Archaeopteryx_, Norell said.

     Storrs Olsen, curator of birds at the Smithsonian Institution, who has
   examined the new specimens, called it "an extraordinary beast." But he
   declared, "There's no way that thing could be a bird."

     The differing interpretations reflect a longstanding debate over
   whether birds evolved from dinosaurs or developed independently. Norell
   supports the birds-from-dinosaurs idea; Olsen conceded that's the
   prevailing view, but said he does not consider it proven.