RE: Spinosaur

["Thomas R. Holtz, Jr." <tholtz@geol.umd.edu>]

> From: owner-dinosaur@usc.edu [mailto:owner-dinosaur@usc.edu]On Behalf Of
> ekaterina amalitzkaya
>
> I recently recall reading on the web that Suchomimus may be a
> junior synonym
> of Baryonyx. Are there reasons to seriously believe this.

The claim apparently came from Angela Milner, at a recent meeting in the UK.
I hope she publishes on this soon (or at least talks about it at SVP): it
would be interesting to see her evidence.

> Also I would like ask if the experts have reached a consensus
> regarding the
> synonymy of Angaturama and Irritator.

The short answer: no, there is no consensus.  The pertinent study (i.e.,
Sues & Martill's (& others?) redescription of the skull of _Irritator_) has
not yet been published.

> Further one thing puzzles
> me- in the
> Taquet paper on Cristatusaurus there is claim that Pelicanimimus may be
> related to spinosaurs. While I find this strange is it possible
> that there
> is some truth to this especially given the presence of teeth in
> the beast
> unlike other spinosaurs.

(Presumabely you mean "ornithomimosaurs" at the end, and this in fact not
true, as _Harpymimus_ has teeth (which are unfortunately greatly worn
away)).

The supposed _Pelecanimus_-spinosaur link is, in my opinion, EXCEEDINGLY
unlikely.  _Pelecanimimus_ is a good ornithomimosaur, linked to
Ornithomimidae by a great number of shared derived characters.

By the way, software conflict & incompatability problems are my number 1 pet
peeve right now.   AAARRRGGGHHHH!!!!!

(Sorry, had to vent.)


                Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
                Vertebrate Paleontologist
Department of Geology           Director, Earth, Life & Time Program
University of Maryland          College Park Scholars
                College Park, MD  20742
http://www.geol.umd.edu/~tholtz/tholtz.htm
http://www.geol.umd.edu/~jmerck/eltsite
Phone:  301-405-4084    Email:  tholtz@geol.umd.edu
Fax (Geol):  301-314-9661       Fax (CPS-ELT): 301-405-0796