RE: "real" opisthopuby

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

> From: owner-dinosaur@usc.edu [mailto:owner-dinosaur@usc.edu]On Behalf Of
> Ken Kinman
>
>       Should the term opisthopubic be applied to both ornithischians and
> maniraptors?  If not, which is properly called opisthopubic and
> what should
> the other be called?
>           -----Thanks,  Ken
> P.S.  But if we continue to call them both opisthopubic,
> shouldn't they at
> least have a qualifier to distinguish between them?
>
I believe that Barsbold and/or Perle introduced the term "opisthopuby", and
that it was coined in context of maniraptorans.

However, it just means "backwards pubis".  As such it might just as well be
left as a single descriptive term, just as "hyperextensible digit II" or
"infratemporal fenestra" or "edentulous jaw" are descriptive terms for
evolutionary novelties that evolved multiple times.

                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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