Archaeopterodactylus and Euornithes

[Tim Williams <twilliams_alpha@hotmail.com>]

T. Michael Keesey wrote:

> What's an "archaeopterodactyloid"? Is there an "Archaeopterodactylus"?

No, there is no "Archaeopterodactylus".  Weird, huh?  Also weird: The 
cladogram shows both Archaeopterodactyloidea and Dsungaripteroidea contained 
within a larger clade that also ends in "-oidea" (Pterodactyloidea).  Does 
this pass muster with the ICZN?  The same cladogram shows _Eudimorphodon_ to 
be paraphyletic.

I don't know much about pterosaur phylogenetic taxonomy, but it's my guess 
that the Archaeopterodactyloidea includes the 'primitive' pterodactyloids 
(hence the name "Archaeopterodactyloidea"), whereas Dsungaripteroidea 
includes the derived pterodactyloids.  As I said, just a guess.

Wang et al. (2005) also mention the bird "_Jeholornis_ (undescribed 
species)" - not _Shenzhouraptor_.

Michael Mortimer wrote:

> No, it was coined by Stejneger (1885).  It was basically Neognathae minus 
> penguins.

Is this when the name Impennae was coined for penguins alone?

Cheers

Tim