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Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2004 01:15:01 +0200
From: David Marjanovic <david.marjanovic@gmx.at>
To: DML <dinosaur@usc.edu>
Cc: PML <phylocode@ouvaxa.cats.ohiou.edu>
Subject: Re: First International Phylogenetic Nomenclature Meeting
----- Original Message ----- From: "Mickey Mortimer" <Mickey_Mortimer111@msn.com> To: <dinosaur@usc.edu> Sent: Tuesday, June 15, 2004 11:49 PM Subject: First International Phylogenetic Nomenclature Meeting > As David pointed out, the abstracts for this are online- > http://www.ohiou.edu/phylocode/IPNM.pdf . Congratulations to him for > authoring an abstract himself. I've not read the whole thing yet, but the > number of definitions I find problematic amazes me. > > First, we have Gauthier's continuing insistance on apomorphy-based clades, > which will only lead to uncertain placement on the cladogram and uncertain > application to intermediate states. > Diapsida Osborn 1903 = Apomorphy (1st reptile with Caiman crocodilus' two > temporal arches/fenestra). That name _really_ cries for an apomorphy-based definition. The apomorphy is very unambiguous (unlike "powered flight" or "feathers"), and fossils around the base of Diapsida often include skulls, so I don't see a serious problem here. > Rhynchocephalia Guenther 1867 = Apomorphy (1st lepidosaur with Sphenodon > punctatus' premaxillary chisels). Probably similarly unambiguous. I just hope we can use *Sphenodontida* or suchlike for the stem. :-) > Crurotarsi Sereno and Arcucci 1990 = Apomorphy (1st archosaur with Caiman > crocodilus' fully rotary, hemicylindrical, fibulocalcaneal crurotarsal articulation). Should better retain its original stem-based definition. Ah, this will be replaced with *Pancrocodylia*... > Gauthier et al. also define Reptilia and Sauria to include Aves! I mean, > sure birds are near certainly reptiles, but why should we force it? Recommendation 11A Example 1 (http://www.ohiou.edu/phylocode/art11.html, scroll down far down) agrees with you -- the example being *Dinosauria*. > Reptilia Laurentus 1768 = Crown (Chelonia mydas + Sphenodon punctatus + > Draco volans + Caiman crocodilus + Vultur gryphus). People will consider it proven that phylogenetic nomenclature is crazy. Laurentius, BTW. > Sauria MacCartney 1802 = Crown (Sphenodon punctatus + > Draco volans + Caiman crocodilus + Vultur gryphus). Why *Draco*? I've never seen Sauria being used precladistically in anywhere near this sense. It's always used as a synonym of the rarer name Lacertilia -- the paraphyletic lizards without snakes and sometimes amphisbaenians. > The good ol' node-stem triplet of Sauria, Lepidosauromorpha and > Archosauromorpha is destroyed by Gauthier et al. as well. Isn't all that old... Why not *Neodiapsida* instead of *Sauria*? Usually names starting with Neo- describe much smaller clades than the corresponding prefix-less names; the current *Neodiapsida* includes almost all diapsids. I'd like a solution similar to *Sauropoda* -- *Eusauropoda* -- *Neosauropoda*, *Theropoda* -- "Eutheropoda" -- *Neotheropoda* and *Aves* -- *Euornithes* -- *Neornithes*. > Archosauromorpha von Huene 1946 = Node (Protorosaurus speneri + > Rhynchosaurus articeps + Caiman crocodilus). This is really weird. Why not keeping it stem-based? > Finally, Gauthier et al. add Compsognathus to the definition of Archosauria- > Archosauria Cope 1869 = Crown (Caiman crocodilus + Compsognathus longipes + > Vultur gryphus). > Just why are dinosaurs constrained as archosaurs? Perhaps just to be really certain, so that the BANDits can't complain? > Luckily, Reisz has better definitions for some of the above clades- > Reptilia: Clade (Testudo hermani, Crocodylus niloticus, Sphenodon punctatus, > Iguana iguana) First, *T. hermanni*. Second, I don't like this either; see my abstract. > Diapsida: Clade (Petrolacosaurus kansensis, Iguana iguana, not Captorhinus > aguti, Procolophon trigoniceps, Paleothyris acadiana) Currently a heterodefinitional synonym of the apomorphy-based one. Could stay so. > As does Sereno (gasp!)- > Archosauria: Crown Clade (Crocodylus niloticus and Passer domesticus) Fine, fine. But using a nonavian dinosaur would have been even better (Rec. 11A). > Neornithes finally gets an official definition, from Sereno- > Neornithes: Crown Clade (Passer domesticus not Crocodylus niloticus) =8-) > But he still can't get the hang of defining clades based on eponymous taxa- > Nodosauridae: Clade (Panoplosaurus mirus not Ankylosaurus magniventris) > Nodosaurinae: Clade (Panoplosaurus mirus not Sarcolestes leedsi, > Hylaeosaurus armatus, Polacanthus foxii) > Iguanodontia: Clade (Parasaurolophus walkeri not Hypsilophodon foxii, > Thescelosaurus neglectus, Parksosaurus warreni, Orodromeus makelai, > Othnielia rex, Zephyrosaurus schaffi, Yandusaurus hongheensis) > Hadrosauriformes: Clade (Iguanodon bernissartensis and Parasaurolophus > walkeri) > Hadrosauroidea: Clade (Parasaurolophus walkeri not Iguanodon > bernissartensis) Awww! > And isn't the type species of Stegosaurus S. armatus? Why does he use S. > stenops? Wagner knows to use S. armatus. *S. armatus* is the type. *S. stenops* is better known... or at least much more famous. Has more beautiful plates. > Interestingly, Neornithischia seems to be the marginocephalian stem- > Neornithischia: Clade (Triceratops horridus not Ankylosaurus magniventris, > Stegosaurus stenops and Parasaurolophus walkeri) Weird. Really. > And Sereno's always right, of course, so let's define Heterodontosaurus to > be an ornithopod! ;-) > Ornithopoda: Clade (Heterodontosaurus tucki and Parasaurolophus walkeri) > I'll be using Wagner's definition- > Ornithopoda: Clade (I. bernissartensis not A. magniventris, S. armatus, or > C. montanus) I agree. But only one of these two definitions can survive! > More apomorphy-based definitions, this time from Padian- > Pterosauria (Pterosauromorpha with fourth metacarpal and digit hypertrophied > to support wing membrane synapomorphic with Pterodactylus antiquus) > Pterodactyloidea (Pterosauria with metacarpus at least 80% as long as > humerus synapomorphic with Pterodactylus antiquus) > So imagine Peters is right, and Longisquama and Sharovipteryx are the > closest relatives of pterosaurs AND have elongated fourth manual digits that > support membranes. They'd be pterosaurs. Or are they not _wing_ membranes > because they weren't used for flight? But if Sharovipteryx glided using its > leg-wings, do its tiny arm wings count because they assist flight? Ugh. > Apomorphy-based definitions MUST STOP! Oh, they aren't even the problem. If he's right, then *Pterosauria* _does not exist_. Why? Because *Pterosauromorpha* is defined as a part of *Archosauria* -- and at least *Longisquama* is most likely not an archosaur. The problems with foggy apomorphies is recognized, though. Recommendations 9E and 9F (at the bottom of http://www.ohiou.edu/phylocode/art9.html) are meant to deal with this problem. Let's hope they will be followed. > Clarke et al. define some names- > Theropoda Marsh 1881 = Branch (Allosaurus fragilis, not Plateosaurus > engelhardti). > Why not Megalosaurus bucklandii?! They use Megalosaurus for Dinosauria and > Saurischia. Hm. > Finally, they give us a new, difficult to apply name- > Avipluma New = Apomorphy (1st theropod with Vultur gryphus' hollow-based, > branched, filamentous epidermal appendages [= feathers]). > Yeah... so that's probably less inclusive than Avetheropoda, perhaps as > inclusive as the Sinosauropteryx+Vultur node (_currently_ Av[i]filopluma), and > definitely as inclusive as Maniraptora. Wow, the utility is astounding :-| > > Mickey Mortimer > Undergraduate, Earth and Space Sciences > University of Washington > The Theropod Database - http://students.washington.edu/eoraptor/Home.html I hope Recommendations 9E and 9F will be followed at length. Otherwise the name is going to be forgotten.