Re: Psittacosaurus "chaoyoungi"

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

Jordan Mallon (j_mallon@hotmail.com) wrote:

<I've seen Psittacosaurus "chaoyoungi" listed as a nomen dubium, which 
implies that the species has a type assigned to it that is too incomplete
to affirm its validity or not (right?).  My question is if anyone knows
what the type number is, if it does indeed exist.  Otherwise, I don't see
what is keeping P. "chaoyoungi" from being listed as a nomen nudum...>

  The fact that it was renamed *Chaoyangsaurus youngi,* actually. There
was some debate a few decades ago internally about wether it was a
psittacosaurid proper, or just a more primitive species, wether it was a
member of *Psittacosaurus* or if it could be it's own genus, etc..
Incidentally, if ever found to be a member of *Psittacosaurus,* the
species name *P. youngi* Chao, 1962 would require *C. youngi* to have it's
name changed; perhaps and only then would the name *C. "chaoyoungi"* ever
be introduced, but who knows....

  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.

"Innocent, unbiased observation is a myth." --- P.B. Medawar (1969)

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