Could something like
Archaeopteryx be the ancestor of later dromaeosaurs? I mean, maybe the dino-bird people see the whole thing backwards, assuming that because birds are with us here today and velociraptors are not, then it is concluded that birds are derived from the classic dromaeosaurs (
Deinonychus, Velociraptor etal.) Which we all know imply a large gap in the dromaeosaurid fossil record back to the Jurassic.
My hunch on this is
primitive theropod/thecodont ---> pre-archaeopteryx (arboreal raptors, something like Microraptor gui) ---> Archaeopteryx ---> (dromaeosaurids) (modern birds)
in which an Archaeopteryx-like ancestor gave rise to two groups, modern birds (perfecting adaptations for flight) and dromaeosaurids (entering another niche as swift predators)
I know the dino-bird theory is more popular, but I still think the paleontologists need to look in the Jurassic for fossils earlier than Archy.
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