Re: What is a Dinosaur?

["David Marjanovic" <david.marjanovic@gmx.at>]

> One note, though: I don't think Padian and May specified _Passer_ as an
> anchor -- instead they used _Neornithes_ (or possibly just the phrase
> "modern birds" -- not sure).

AFAIK it was Neornithes. Neornithes is also used in the definitions of many
dinosaur subgroups (Saurischia, Theropoda, Tetanurae...)

> However, using higher taxa as anchors is a bad idea in general.  The draft
> PhyloCode requires that specifiers be species or specimens, and hence a
> specific neornithean species would have to be chosen. I typically use
> _Passer domesticus_; some others on the list seem to prefer _Corvus corax_
> (or whatever the type species of _Corvus_ is). It doesn't matter too
> terribly much, but one should eventually be chosen.

*Passer domesticus* is a good idea because Neornithes is defined as
{*Passer* + *Struthio*}.

***********************************************
Thus you can pretty much say that theropod is a synonym for
"carnivorous dinosaur", but the actual definition of theropod is
taxonomic rather than gastronomic.

HP Mickey Rowe in http://www.cmnh.org/fun/dinosaur-archive/1994Oct/0130.html