Re: Mononykine or Parvicursorine?

[<twilliams@canr1.cag.uconn.edu>]

>       Parvicursoridae was coined by Karhua and Rautian in their 1996
> paper on Parvicursor (sorry, no refs here; I'm currently at the MOR not
> UCMP). They erected it as a redundant, monospecific taxon ("family", if
> you must) [...snip...]  Mononykinae is an explicit, node-based taxon of
> (currently Laurasian + latest Cretaceous) alvarezsaurids; MRCA of
> Mononykus + Shuvuuia and all of its descendants. Parvicursorinae has never
> been used, to my knowledge.

Doesn't matter.  If there is a subfamily of the Alvarezsauridae that 
includes both _Parvicursor_ and _Mononykus_, then that subfamily must 
be called Parvicursorinae.
     
Parvicursoridae, Parvicursorinae, Parvicursoroidea... all these names are 
attributable to
Karhu and Rautian, 1996.  Parvicursorinae and Parvicursoridae therefore receive
priority over Mononykinae and Mononykidae as long as _Parvicursor_ and 
_Mononykus_ are included in the same subfamily and family, respectively (unless 
the ICZN changes the rules).  How these clades were and are defined is 
irrelevant for nomenclatural purposes. 

Tim Williams

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