title: Reply to Foth: Preserved cartilage is rare but not absent: troodontid sternal plates are absent, not rare.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China;
authors.forename: Jingmai K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: O'Connor
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China;
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Linyi University, Linyi, Shandong 276000, China; and Tianyu Natural History Museum of Shandong, Pingyi, Shandong 273300, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoting
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China; zhouzhonghe@ivpp.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Zhonghe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D001717:Birds / Q000502:physiology*; D010012:Osteogenesis; D013249:Sternum / Q000502:physiology*