Keeled sterna (was RE: Definitions)

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

> From: owner-dinosaur@usc.edu [mailto:owner-dinosaur@usc.edu]On Behalf Of
> Dinogeorge@aol.com
>
> In a message dated 7/24/00 12:16:39 PM EST, tmk@dinosauricon.com writes:
>
> << Alvarezsauria have keeled breastbones, but they're not Carinatae. >>
>
> Keeled breastbones may go back quite a way in theropods. I recall
> Dan Chure
> displaying the keeled breastbone of his formerly headless
> Dinosaur National
> Monument allosaurid at a fairly recent SVP annual meeting.

_Sinraptor dongi_, too, has a keeled sternum.  So, although Carinatae was
originally named for the possession of a keeled sternum, it is now
phylogenetically defined as a specific clade within Avialae, as previously
mentioned.

                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
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