Re: Labrosaurus (was RE: birds and dinosaurs)

[Mickey Mortimer <Mickey_Mortimer111@msn.com>]

Tim Williams wrote-

> >Just which specimen of Allosaurus fragilis is the paratype?  YMP 1930 is
> >the
> >holotype, USNM 4734 is the topotype, and DINO 2560 (=UUVP 6000) is the
> >unecessary neotype...
>
> The paratype for _A. fragilis_ is  USNM 4734 - which (by definition) comes
> from the same locality and horizon as the holotype.  USNM 4734 is a fairly
> complete specimen - unlike the holotype.  As a topotype, this specimen can
> be recruited to uphold the validity of _A. fragilis_.

A paratype has to be part of the type series, reported in the same
publication as the holotype.  Being discovered in 1884, it is impossible for
USNM 4734 to be paratype of Allosaurus fragilis, which was named in 1877.
Chure (2000) does designate it as the topotype, however.

> To further muddy the waters, various new and unofficial _Allosaurus_
species
> have popped up in various sources (e.g., "Madsenius", "Allosaurus whitei",
> "Allosaurus jimmadseni").   "Allosaurus jimmadseni" appeared in a
> dissertation, and has yet to be officially named; "Madsenius" (like
> "Brontoraptor") may have emanated from the imagination of Bakker, and gone
> no further; and "A. whitei"... well that's a potential Pandora's box.  At
> any rate, all these names are currently _nomina nuda_, and it would be
best
> if they were left out of scientific discourse until they are officially
> described.

Pickering seems to have no qualms about discussing A. "whitei" publically,
and as Chure (2000) demonstrated its synonymy with A. fragilis quite
conclusively, I see no danger in discussing it.
"Madsenius" is from a children's book published over a decade ago.  There is
so little hard data associated with it that scientific discourse is largely
fruitless anyway.
As for Chure's new species, though he has requested his new taxa's names not
be used, he has said it is fine to discuss the data in his thesis.

Mickey Mortimer
Undergraduate, Earth and Space Sciences
University of Washington
The Theropod Database - http://students.washington.edu/eoraptor/Home.html