RE: Land of the Lost review-spoiler?

[Tim Williams <tijawi@yahoo.com>]

John Scanlon <riversleigh@outbackatisa.com.au> wrote:


> The rhamphotheca does not occur in squamates, consistent with it
> always developing from a caruncle, and apparently always suppresses
> development of adjacent teeth (e.g. dinosaurs with premaxillary teeth
> would not also have an upper-jaw beak, a point not always
> observed in reconstructions). 


I might be misunderstanding your point, but dinosaurs can have both an 
upper-jaw beak and premaxillary teeth, can't they?  I have ornithischians 
especially in mind.  For example, all ceratopsians have a beak (upper & lower 
jaw).  However, the presence of premaxillary teeth varies among ceratopsian 
taxa.  _Chaoyangsaurus_, _Yinlong_, _Protoceratops_, _Archaeoceratops_ and some 
others have premaxillary teeth, but _Psittacosaurus_ and most neoceratopsians 
do not.


(BTW, thanks for a nice summary of carunculate tetrapods... very interesting 
stuff.  I didn't know about the connection with beaks.)


> "Get this $%#@* python off me!", said Tom laocoonically.

:-)  Yeah, I read this a few times before I got it.  I hope Tom fared better 
than poor Laocoon.



Cheers

Tim