Re: Non-serpentine lacertids (was RE:WHAT'S GOING ON?)

[NJPharris@aol.com]

In a message dated 7/3/00 1:19:28 PM Pacific Daylight Time, 
Dinogeorge@aol.com writes:

> Why not cut, when "every child knows" the difference between a bird and a 
>  dinosaur? Not cutting obscures morphology.

"Every child knows" the difference between a bird and a dinosaur because 
every child has been taught that certain things are called dinosaurs.

_Giganotosaurus_, _Triceratops_, and _Brachiosaurus_ are all very large and 
very old.  Beyond that, they don't have any more in common than 
_Giganotosaurus_ has with an ostrich.

Should plesiosaurs and pterosaurs and saber-toothed cats and woolly mammoths 
be classified in the Dinosauria as well because "every child knows" that 
these are dinosaurs?

Nick P.