Re: Notarium vs. Synsacrum

["Jaime Headden" <jaemei@hotmail.com>]

Jonathan R. Wagner wrote:

<Is "notarium" appropriate for birds? It has been used in an avian
context on this list quite a bit of late. I thought the term for birds 
was "synsacrum".>

I've never heard this in context here. By definition, a synsacrum is a 
fusion of dorsals to the sacrum in a series that does not break. A 
notarium, I believe, is an independant fusion of dorsals to each other, 
independant of the sacrum, or synsacrum. Birds, though, have the entire 
dorsal column fused, so they either fused a notarium to the synsacrum, 
or simple proceeded with the synsacral development.

Can somebody help?

Jaime A. Headden

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