Re: Postorbital processes (& weighting??)

["T. Mike Keesey" <tmk@dinosauricon.com>]

On Mon, 17 Dec 2001, Ken Kinman wrote:

> David,
>       Need to get some things cleared up here.  {Sinornis + Passer} =
> Euornithes (not Ornithothoraces).

I'm pretty sure _Euornithes_ is Clade(_Passer_ <-- _Enantiornis_).

>       Ornithothoraces is presently defined as {Iberomesornis + Passer}.

Yes, and that's quite possibly equivalent to Clade(_Sinornis_ + _Passer_).

> David asked in his original post if there are any "other ornithothoracines
> except confuciusornithids" with the process.  This phrase seemed to imply he
> believed confuciusornithids to be ornithothoracines (making the latter
> equivalent to Pygostylia).  This didn't surprised me since some phylogenies
> would make Ornithothoraces even more inclusive than Pygostylia.

They do? Which ones? Even Feduccia's just makes them heterodefinitional
synonyms, I think.

> So just to
> clarify, I now assume David meant to say "other pygostylians except
> confuciusornithids".

Basically, _Ornithothoraces_ plus a few possible odds and ends.

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