RE: Definitions

[Steven Mahon <floridamahon@yahoo.com>]

--- "T. Michael Keesey" <mightyodinn@yahoo.com> wrote:
> "Example 1: The name _Dinosauria_ was coined by Owen
> for the taxa
> _Megalosaurus_, _Iguanodon_, and _Hylaeosaurus_, and
> traditionally the taxon
> designated by that name has included these and
> certain other non-volant
> reptiles. It has not traditionally included birds.
> Although birds are now
> considered part of the dinosaur clade, the name
> _Dinosauria_ should not be
> defined using any bird species as internal
> specifiers. Such a definition would
> force birds to be dinosaurs, thus trivializing the
> question of whether birds
> are dinosaurs. Instead, internal specifiers should
> be chosen from among taxa
> that have traditionally been considered dinosaurs;
> e.g., _Megalosaurus
> bucklandi_ von Meyer 1832, _Iguanodon anglicus_ Holl
> 1829, and _Hylaeosaurus
> armatus_ Mantell 1833."

Does that mean Phylocode is only going to accept
(Iguanodon + Megalosaurus)? Eeeek!!
 
> Sounds like an old-Dinosauricon-generated error.

Then howcome everybody uses the stem-based def. if it
*doesn't* have priority?

> > I also had heard that there might be a Dinosauria
> > definition that includes Herrerasaurus. Does it
> really
> > exist?
> 
> "Dinosauria would comprise Herrerasauridae,
> Saurischia, Ornithischia, the
> common ancestor of the aforementioned taxa, and all
> its descendants."
> 
> Novas, F.E. 1992. La evolución de los dinosaurios
> carnívoros. in Los
> dinosaurios y su entorno biotico. Actas II Curso de
> Paleontologíca en Cuenca.
> pp. 125-163.

Yikes! Does that one have priority over Padian & May
since it was afterwards?
 
> > Also, I don't think I should have make a page for
> > every taxon. What main clades *should* I make
> pages of
> > that would represent the major clades well?
> 
> I did this on the old Dinosauricon
> (http://dinosaur.umbc.edu). Really, it's a
> matter of taste.

Better start thinking then!:-)

      Steven Mahon 

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