"Thecodonts" (was RE: On the subject of mysterious absences...The Answer)

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

> From: owner-DINOSAUR@usc.edu [mailto:owner-DINOSAUR@usc.edu] 
> On Behalf Of Adam
>
> BTW Is "thecodont" still a useful term? Or is it too inclusive?
> 

Too paraphyletic. It is basal archosauriforms, crurotarsans (aka
pseudosuchians) minus crocodylomorphs, and basal ornithodirans
(lagerpetonids, _Marasuchus_, _Scleromochlus_, silesaurs, but not dinosaurs
or pterosaurs).

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