Re: Pterosaur Species List updates

[Mike Hanson <mhanson54@comcast.net>]

Basically a nomen dubium has a non-diagnostic type specimen, but there is 
another species with a diagnostic type specimen which the nomen dubium may very 
likely if not almost certainly belong to. The species with the diagnostic type 
specimen cannot reasonably be synonymised with a species with a non-diagnostic 
type, but to spare us the insanity of dealing with a pesky nomen dubium always 
getting in the way it is lumped into the the species with the diagnostic type 
species. It is not my invention, there are others out there who have done this 
before and with great frequency. I know, it may be bending the rules quite a 
bit. 

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Michael Mortimer" <mickey_mortimer111@msn.com> 
To: dinosaur@usc.edu 
Sent: Sunday, 21 June, 2009 17:35:54 GMT +01:00 Amsterdam / Berlin / Bern / 
Rome / Stockholm / Vienna 
Subject: RE: Pterosaur Species List updates 


Mike Hanson wrote- 

> Avgodectes and its synonyms are now listed as synonymous with Yixianopterus, 
> though this requires some nomenclatural gymnastics, Avgodectes is now a nomen 
> dubium. 

How does this work? By definition, a nomen dubium cannot be a synonym, because 
in order to be a nomen dubium, it would have to be indistinguishable from at 
least two species, so couldn't be a definite synonym of either. 

Mickey Mortimer