RE: Scipionyx

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

> From: owner-dinosaur@usc.edu [mailto:owner-dinosaur@usc.edu]On Behalf Of
> Luis Rey
>
> Can anybody enlighten me about the current cladistics  of Scipionyx. I'm
> just back from a seminar in Benevento (including a massive Italian
> blackout) and a quick visit to Pietraroja where I was surprised to see
> that some of the restorations still show Scipionyx as a dromaeosaur. I
> know it is understood as a basal maniraptoran, but given that it's a
> juvenile... just how primitive?

In my Gaia analysis, Scipionyx came out as a basal coelurosaur outside
Maniraptoriformes. In my forthcoming (Dinosauria II) analysis it is in a
similar position: basal to Tyrannoraptora (= Tyrannosauroidea +
Maniraptoriformes) and the Ornitholestes complex.

However, it would be interesting to know what the ADULT animal would fall
out as: in many taxa juveniles tend to be more "basal" in terms of their
character states than the adults.   (Incidentally, a quick and dirty
analysis that might result in a good paper: running baby hadrosaurs as
separate OTUs in an iguanodontian study).

Very hard to justify it as a dromaeosaur, though.

> And we were much more less than impressed with Paul Maderson overbearing
> David Unwin with loud "... but David how can you say pterosaurs had
> hairrrrr....!!! They had SCALES!!!"

Now that's just sad...

                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