Re: Stromeroschus

[William Parker <wgp@dana.ucc.nau.edu>]

uh....all the 4/1 posts were jokes...I thought... (especially liked the
dandelion..human clade )...
-Bill Parker
Department of Geology
Northern Arizona University

Jonkeria@aol.com wrote:

> In a message dated 4/1/99 9:02:34 AM Eastern Standard Time, ALDINO1@aol.com
> writes:
>
> << I know, Spino and all the other Spinosaurids are supposed to be theropods
> with
>  crocodile type features (long snout, more teeth, etc.) or, as someone
> recently
>  put it, "dinosaurs trying to be crocodiles."  These "new" fossils, though,
>  reveal quite the opposite to be true!  In an upcoming article (which probably
>  won't be out for at least a year!), a combined group of theropod and fossil
>  croc experts are going to prove that Spinosaurus and all other Spinosaurids
>  are NOT DINOS at all, but a group of derived "crocs trying to be dinos."  In
>  other words, all the old ideas about these animals are wrong!  The authors
>  will say that dino-synapamorphies previously seen in Spinosaurids are either
>  1) plesiamorphs also found in primitive archosaurs, or 2) wishful thinking,
> as
>  Spinosaurids have always been ASSUMED to be dinos.>>
>
> This blatant misreporting is sickening, and I can see that once again someone
> has been blinded by the evils of cladistics shown in the first few minutes of
> said meeting. It is becoming increasingly obvious to all spinosaurologists
> that the group is in fact a group of highly derived, amphibious lepisosteids,
> better known as common gars (the new subfamily will be named
> Suchomimosaurinae). Much like the fusion of the arm bones of pareiasaurs to
> form the wings of birds, the skull bones of spinosaurs can be easily shown to
> be the fused remnants of the gar skull bones. As for the theropod-like body,
> well, there's a lot of convergence in theropods so there, that's explained.
> Topic closed. Next week: Tyrannosaurs as giant, flightless hummingbirds (yes,
> the "arms" are really legs!).
>
> -Christian Kammerer