Re: Eoraptor

[Tom Holtz <tholtz@geochange.er.usgs.gov>]

>At the risk of incurring another phylogenetic posting from Tom Holtz ;-)
>What is it that makes Eoraptor a dino dubium?

Eoraptor is claimed by Sereno et al. to be a true dinosaur (i.e., a
descendant of the most recent common ancestor of Ornithischia &
Saurischia).  However, many other paleontologists (and I must say, myself
included) are somewhat skeptical of this hypothesis, since it is very
primitive and may be outside true Dinosauria.  Everyone agrees, however,
that it is a very, VERY close relative to the Dinosauria, even if it does
turn out not to be a true dinosaur.

                                
                 Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.                  Phone: 703-648-5280      
                 Vertebrate Paleontologist         Fax:    703-648-5420
tholtz@geochange.er.usgs.gov ------------>       th81@umail.umd.edu
U.S. Geological Survey          ------------->       University of Maryland
Branch of Paleontology & Stratigraphy ---->       Department of Geology
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