Editing Protoavis (section)

====Pelvic girdle====
Chatterjee asserts that the pelvic girdle is apomorphic comparative to archaic birds and displays a retroverted [[pubis (bone)|pubis]], fusion of the [[ischium]] and [[ilium (bone)|ilium]], an [[antitrochanter]], and the presence of a [[renal fossa]]. The pubis does appear to display [[Pubis (bone)#Dinosaurs|opisthopuby]], although this has yet to be verified. The alleged fusion of the ischium and ilium into an ilioischiadic plate is currently not substantiated by the fossils at hand, despite Chatterjee's auspicious illustration to the contrary in ''The Rise of Birds''.<ref name="Feduccia1999" /><ref name="Paul2002" /><ref name="PadianChiappe98" /> At this time the pelvic girdle is not sufficiently well preserved to ascertain whether or not a renal fossa was present, although as no known avian from the [[Mesozoic]] displays a renal fossa, it is not clear why ''Protoavis'' should, even if it is more derived than ''Archaeopteryx''.<ref name="Witmer2002" /> Similarly, it is unclear if the alleged antitrochanter has been correctly identified as such.