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Re: Dromaeosaurinae?
T. Michael Keesey wrote-
No definition, but Currie's chapter "Dromaeosauridae" in _The Encyclopedia
of
Dinosaurs_ lists _Dromaeosaurus_ as "the only unquestionable dromaeosaurine
dromaeosaurid". _Adasaurus_ is listed as a possibility. _Deinonychus_,
_Saurornitholestes_, and _Velociraptor_ are listed as velociraptorine
dromaeosaurids. _Utahraptor_ and then-unnamed giant dromaeosaurids from
Japan
(is this _Fukuiraptor_, now a basal ?carnosaur?) and Mongolia
(_Achillobator_?)
are stated to be unassignable to either subtaxon of Dromaeosauridae due to
being poorly known.
Yeah, that's Fukuiraptor.
See http://www.cmnh.org/dinoarch/2003May/msg00427.html for why Currie's
'velociraptorine' synapomorphies are invalid. I've gotten varying
topologies in my analysis, though never anything close to the traditional
'velociraptorine'-'dromaeosaurine' division. Saurornitholestes and IGM
100/1015 are almost always outside of Dromaeosauridae (but closer than
Bambiraptor, Sinornithosaurus + NGMC 91 and the sometimes avialan
Microraptor/Cryptovolans). Velociraptor is usually next to break off, with
the following taxa being dromaeosaurines. Deinonuchus and Unenlagia are
often together (though lately, the latter has been avialan), along with
Dromaeosaurus. Achillobator and Adasaurus clade together, usually as
dromaeosaurines next to Dromaeosaurus. Once I got them as velociraptorines
though, which led to Velociraptorinae being Asian (Velociraptor, Adasaurus,
Achillobator) and Dromaeosaurinae being American (Deinonychus,
Dromaeosaurus, Unenlagia). Would be interesting if that were true. Oh, and
Pyroraptor is never a dromaeosaurid, and is usually somewhere between
dromaeosaurs and troodontids.
Mickey Mortimer
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