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This paper has no abstract; this is the first paragraph. The mechanisms of tissue tension phenomena and their physiological significance are controversial (Vincent and Jeronimidis, 1991; [Peters and Tomos, 1996a] and [Peters and Tomos, 1996b]; Kutschera and Niklas, 2007). Specifically, the apparently spontaneous expansion of inner tissues after removal of the peripheral cell layers is a perpetual bone of contention. We had reported evidence suggesting that inner tissue expansion is driven by water uptake (Peters and Tomos, 2000). Kutschera and Niklas (2007) rejected this interpretation and insisted that inner tissue expansion is an elastic response to the release from compressive …

The life history of Confuciusornis sanctus is controversial. Recently, the species’ body size spectrum was claimed to contradict osteohistological evidence for a rapid, bird-like development. Moreover, sexual size dimorphism was rejected as an explanation for the observed bimodal size distribution since the presence of elongated rectrices, an assumed ‘male’ trait, was uncorrelated with size. However, this interpretation (i) fails to explain the size spectrum of C. sanctus which is trimodal rather than bimodal, (ii) requires implausible neonate masses and (iii) is not supported by analogy with sexual dimorphisms in modern birds, in which elongated central rectrices are mostly sex-independent. Available …