Re: Mickey's experiment (segnosaurs)

["Jaime A. Headden" <qilongia@yahoo.com>]

Ken Kinman (kinman@hotmail.com) wrote:

<However, I still think they may be slightly paraphyletic, with
the majority of Therizinosauroids (Alxasaurus, Therizinosaurus,
and segnosaurids) splitting off as a separate clade just before
Beipiaosaurus, which would be a plesion by itself or maybe even
a basal oviraptorosaur sensu lato).>

  Would be interested in knowing how a group should be
paraphyletic with some descendants having a distinctly variant
morphology from their predecessors? It had already been
demonstrated in a different experiment that *Beipiaosaurus*
grouped with the rest even in a plesiomorphic distribution with
neotheropods versus prosauropods. And without segnosaur
autapomorphies.

  Kinda sounds like wishful thinking, and while this [or that]
is not intended to be personal, I am curious why earlier you
expunge not being able to make some intuitive, unquantified
statements about how a phylogeny "feels" to you. There has been
quantification of the Therizinosauroidea + Oviraptorosauria
group since 1994 [Russell and Dong, Canadian Journal of Earth
Sciences 33, on *Alxasaurus*]. I cannot stand seeing this
experiment continue to be "refined" as one proves first that
segnosaurs are theropods, neotheropods, tetanurans and
coelurosaurs at that, maniraptoriforms, maniraptorans, etc., as
each of these have been done, some for quite a while....

=====
Jaime A. Headden

  Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhr-gen-ti-na
  Where the Wind Comes Sweeping Down the Pampas!!!!

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