Typos happen (was RE: Benton et al.'s Supertree (longer))

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

> From: owner-dinosaur@usc.edu [mailto:owner-dinosaur@usc.edu]On Behalf Of
> Mike Taylor
>
> > > Hi all, I checked the archives for *Oviraptosaurs* (without "ro")
> > > but although I found it on sevreal posts, I couldn't find who
> > > coined it first.  Anyone knows?
> >
> > No one ever "coined" it; it is just a typographical error!
>
> But in the supertree paper -- or, more precisely, in figure 2 (p4),
> it's used to indicate a group consisting of:
>
> --+-------- Quarry 9 coelurosaur
>   +--+--+-- _Beipiaosaurus_
>   |  |  `-- _Alxasaurus_
>   |  `--+-- _Erlikosaurus_
>   |     |-- _Therizinosaurus_
>   |     `-- _Segnosaurus_
>   +--+--+-- El Brevte oviraptosaur
>      |  `-- _Chirostenotes_
>      |--+-- _Elmisaurus_
>      |  `-- _Microvenator_
>      `--+-- _Ingenia_
>         |-- _Oviraptor_
>         `-- _Conchoraptor_

Doesn't change the fact that it's a typo...

Indeed, in the electronic appendix they have:
Oviraptosauria
 El Brete oviraptorosaur
 Elmisauridae=Caegnatidae
  Chirostenotes
 Oviraptosauridae [sic]
  Conchoraptor
  Ingenia
  Oviraptor

And Therizinosauroidea and its components unfortunately disappeared in the
appendix...

>
> Which looks more like what Darren called Enigmosauria.
>
They could well be using the definition of Oviraptorosauria from Sereno
(everything closer to _Ovi._ than to modern birds).  Or, given the fact that
one of the authors on there is one of the most public critics of
Phylogenetic Taxonomy, they may not employ algorithmic definitions for
higher taxa, and instead simply find the best feeling "fit" for the
phylogeny at hand (yes, Virginia, lots of dinosaur paleontologists,
including some of the most rabid cladists known, do not use phylogenetic
taxonomy).

Other typos in the appendix are "Oviraptosauridae" (see above),
"Saurornitoidae" (supposed to be "Saurornithoididae", as it is listed as the
equivalent to Troodontidae), "Ankilosauridae", "Choritosaurinae" for
"Corythosaurinae", and "Pachicephalosauridae".

                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
Fax (Geol):  301-314-9661       Fax (CPS-ELT): 301-405-0796