Re: what is the best and/or std nomenclature for ...

["T. Michael Keesey" <keesey@gmail.com>]

On Thu, May 1, 2008 at 9:19 AM,  <hammeris1@bellsouth.net> wrote:
> ... post-Permian, pre-KT other than Mesozoic, or is there one?
>
>  Or, to be more precise, I guess I'd like a term to describe the period of 
> the appearance of what is known as "dinosaur" in the mid-Triassic ---> end of 
> Cretaceous.

"Mesozoic" is as close as you will probably get.

>  I love that birdosaurs/dino-birds etc. have survived to the present day,
>  but excluding cladistics for a moment (I  know, the horror! the horror!) 
> what is
>  a "dinosaur" in the vernacular is still more or less Godzilla rather than 
> Big Bird -
>  in a layman's view.

"Mesozoic dinosaur" is still going to include some feathered, flying
things (including early members of the avian crown group, such as
_Vegavis_). And, indeed, it's possible that some classic dinosaurs,
like _Tyrannosaurus_, were feathered. (Certainly oviraptorosaurs,
deinonychosaurs, etc. were.)

What is a "dinosaur" in the common vernacular is any ancient animal,
often including pterosaurs, plesiosaurs, _Dimetrodon_, mammoths, etc.
Or, indeed, anything perceived as outdated, like a jalopy or a
conservative politician. That usage isn't going to be very useful in
this forum.

You are probably referring more to the traditional scientific usage
(or "classic" usage), which corresponds roughly to "non-avialan
dinosaur" (i.e., "primarily flightless dinosaur").

>  Now, if you guys can bio-engineer an extinct toothed-bird back into 
> existence,
>  my very humble amateur ears will perk up considerably,

Nature took a stab at it with the pelagornithids. (Not true teeth, though.)

-- 
T. Michael Keesey
Director of Technology
Exopolis, Inc.
2894 Rowena Avenue Ste. B
Los Angeles, California 90039
http://exopolis.com/
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