Re: Re: Re: Abelisaur & Titanosaur migratory routes

[Thomas_R_HOLTZ@umail.umd.edu (th81)]

>>
>> Nope.  The clade is Titanosauria, containing the monphyletic Titanosauridae
>> and some basal forms.  If two or more of these are closer to Andesaurus than
>> to Titanosaurus, then there is your Andesauridae.
>
>And the difference between this and a large Titanosauridae would be....?
>
Not much.
"Andesaurids" lack some of the derived features which unite Powell's
Titanosaurinae, Saltosaurinae, Argyrosaurinae, and (whatever the other
subfamily was), i.e., the traditional synapomorphies of Titanosauridae.

Of course, changing the node that the "-idae" name is attached to isn't that
important.

Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
Vertebrate Paleontologist
Dept. of Geology
University of Maryland
College Park, MD  20742
Email:Thomas_R_HOLTZ@umail.umd.edu (th81)
Fax: 301-314-9661
Phone:301-405-4084