Re: Birds, Fish, and the Class Ceratopsia (was RE: Response to Gould?)

[Matt Martyniuk <martyniukm2@UofS.edu>]

"Thomas R. Holtz, Jr." wrote:

>
> So, I would like to see gradists support me (;-) in elevating Ceratopsia to
> Class rank. If they truly accept morphological distance as a guiding
> principle, let's seem them do it.  If in fact they are simply maintaining an
> old tradition for its own sake, regardless of the supposed guiding
> principle, then they will keep Ceratopsia an Infraorder.

*applauds*

Well said! This demonstrates just the 'selective grading' the
birds-are-not-dinosaurs supporters use. A Triceratops is just as different from
say, an Eoraptor as a hawk is from a Velociraptor. If 'birds are not dinosaurs',
are ceratopsians also not dinosaurs?