19504

I was disappointed in news coverage of this dinosaur find in China. Science News and others ran an illustration with an obvious mistake. Unless the newly discovered mammal, Repenomamus giganticus, and its smaller cousin, Repenomamus robustus, were unique animals, they did not have legs that emerged from their sides giving them a sprawling, reptilian body plan. Surely, they would have had legs like all mammals, coming straight down from the hips and supporting the body. Not to put too fine a point on it, but there is also a problem with the Psittacosaurus in the background of the illustration. Recent finds in China suggest that this plant eater had a complement of porcupinelike quills running down its tail.

Howard Zimmerman
New York, N.Y.