Re: ARCHOSAURIAN TURTLES?

[Pharris Nicholas J <pharrinj@plu.edu>]

Larry Febo wrote:

> Hmmm....I remember backing down from my theory that diapsids may have
> developed from the synapsid condition (somewhat embarrassingly I might add)
> when I realized that what I was saying implied that turtles (as anapsid
> representatives) should therefore be more closely related to humans than
> birds! Now,...if turtles are actually lepidosaurian.........I may still be
> on the right track about a one time only development of the "warm-blooded"
> condition in terrestrial vertebrates.

OK, so you're advocating relationships something like this for the extant
tetrapods:

----------------------amphibians
 \--------------------lizards & snakes
  \          \--------turtles
   \
    \-----------------crocodiles
     \----------------birds
             \--------mammals

???

No offense, but it looks pretty unlikely to me...

-Nick Pharris