Re: Avimimus in the Process of Revising Hou et al.

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

I can see this is going to be one of those days...

  Mickey Mortimer (Mickey_Mortimer111@msn.com) wrote:

<While the possibility PIN 3907/1 and 3907/3 are different taxa seems
reasonable, the referral of the name Avimimus to the PIN 3907/1 skull
seems questionable.  Watabe et al.'s new specimen shows that characters in
PIN 3907/1's postcrania (ulnar keel; carpometacarpus;
hyperarctometatarsus; axis of pedal unguals II and IV angled to sides) are
present with those in 3907/3's skull (very narrow premaxilla with large
narial fossa).  This shows 3907/3's skull is correctly associated with the
holotype postcrania of Avimimus.  It would probably be better to keep the
name Avimimus for all the specimens except the 3907/1's partial skull.>

  Wait until the paper. The braincase is part of PIN 3907/1. It is the
holotype. Whereas the postcrania of PIN 3907/1 is distinctive, and
Mahito's new specimen has a postcranial anatomy similar to PIN 3907/3,
this is no contention to separate the holotype on the basis of a different
skeleton. The holotype skull may or may not have similar proportions if
complete, and only comparison will tell. I never said that 3907/3 was not
possibly *Avimimus,* though it may not be. It is as equally likely that
"avimimid" anatomy is so specialized that many similar taxa will possess
such qualities as originally described by Kurzanov and later. The finding
of an "avimimid" pes two years ago in Mongolia (at SVP 2001) with a first
toe is distinctive (it has the diagnostic avimimid tarsal morphology), and
suggests that many of the specializations in the postcranium may be
plesiomorphic to *Avimimus* itself. Contend not that the braincase is not
*Avimimus* without backing it up, I'd say.

  Cheers,

=====
Jaime A. Headden

  Little steps are often the hardest to take.  We are too used to making leaps 
in the face of adversity, that a simple skip is so hard to do.  We should all 
learn to walk soft, walk small, see the world around us rather than zoom by it.

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Health - your guide to health and wellness
http://health.yahoo.com