Luis M. Chiappe

From EvoWiki

Luis M. Chiappe, of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, is an influential paleornithologist whose research has spanned nearly every subject within the field of avian phylogenetics. Chiappe was among the first opponents of an explosive radiation amongst Avialae post-KT Boundary whereby the Neornithes originated entirely within the early Tertiary, and has been outspoken in his criticism of the validity of Protoavis texensis. Chiappe has also argued for ectothermy to some degree in the archaic birds of the Cretaceous (see Chiappe, Chinsamy, Dodson 1994). He is also among the principal architects of the view that avian phylogeny proceeded more or less orthogenetically, from Archaeopteryx through the Enantiornithes and then on to Ornithurae. In a similar vein, Chiappe has opposed the usage of Gauthier's crown-group redefinition of Aves, on grounds of taxonomic practicality (Chiappe 1995). Chiappe's most controversial standpoint, perhaps, is his assertion that Alvarezsauria are nested within Aves (see Chiappe 1995, Chiappe et al 1996).