RE: Anatomical directions for decribing coracoids

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

> From: owner-DINOSAUR@usc.edu [mailto:owner-DINOSAUR@usc.edu] 
> On Behalf Of Mike Taylor
> Sent: Monday, September 24, 2007 8:54 AM
> To: dinosaur@usc.edu
> Subject: Anatomical directions for decribing coracoids
> 
> Mike Taylor writes:
>  > Many different sets of directions have been used to 
> describe  > coracoids, with the edge furthest from the 
> scapular articulation  > having been variously described as 
> median (e.g. Seeley, 1882),  > inferior (Riggs, 1904), 
> anteromedial (Powell, 1992), distal (Curry  > Rogers, 2001) 
> and anterior (Upchurch et al., 2004), and the  > designation 
> of the other directions varying similarly.  Is any  > 
> consensus emerging in this area, or should I just pick 
> whichever one I  > like most?
> 
> I can't _believe_ that no-one is sufficiently turned on by as 
> sexy a topic as this to get a good thread going.  Instead, 
> there you all are over there talking about feathered raptors 
> and stuff, as though you were an issue of Nature or 
> something.  While right here, before your eyes, the 
> infinitely more important and exciting topic of coracoid 
> anatomical-nomenclature orientation withers and dies.  It's a 
> disgrace, I tell you.

Okay, I'll bite.

There is at present no firm consensus. So if you are describing a coracaoid,
make certain you state WHOSE orientation/anatomical directional system you
are using.

Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
Email: tholtz@umd.edu   Phone: 301-405-4084
Office: Centreville 1216                        
Senior Lecturer, Vertebrate Paleontology
Dept. of Geology, University of Maryland
http://www.geol.umd.edu/~tholtz/
Fax: 301-314-9661               

Faculty Director, Earth, Life & Time Program, College Park Scholars
http://www.geol.umd.edu/~jmerck/eltsite/
Fax: 301-405-0796

Mailing Address:        Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
                        Department of Geology
                        Building 237, Room 1117
                        University of Maryland
                        College Park, MD 20742 USA