Re: Birdosaurs

["Thomas R. Holtz, Jr." <th81@umail.umd.edu>]

At 07:01 PM 3/24/98 +1100, Tom wrote:
>I'm going to say this, simple and short: ARE BIRDS DINOSAURS? Since I
>asked a simple question, please give me a simple answer.

If you use a taxonomy where all taxa are monophyletic (an ancestor and all
descendants), then YES, birds are dinosaurs (given our current understanding
of the phylogeny of dinosaurs).

If not, then not.

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