RE: Ceratops analyzed in the Sampson et al. (2010) matrix

[Jaime Headden <qi_leong@hotmail.com>]

David Marjanovic wrote:

<Once you've dealt with *Eoceratops*, you should absolutely publish this. I'm 
thinking of a Short Communication in the JVP.>

  Not to place any sort of sense of non-achievement on Mickey's doings, but I 
do not agree that he should publish even close to this. First of all, it would 
certainly help that he examines the material first hand; the dearth of actual 
description the holotype of *Ceratops montanus* has received to date almost 
certainly deserves this. A close second is to actually consider the effects of 
ontogeny on a ceratopsian cladogram: While the effects are known in theropod 
cladograms, although not extensively studied throughout theropods, it would be 
extremely important to note that what may be diagnostic may also be juvenile 
and non-diagnostic as an adult (one could diagnose juveniles of *Triceratops 
prorsus* as diagnostic taxa because of their unique morphological features in 
the frill, horns, etc.). This rushing-to-publication would almost certainly be 
jumping the gun, when there is much, much to be handled before anything of this 
sort should be done, and we're not even talking about verifying the codings of 
the other taxa, yet!

Cheers,

Jaime A. Headden
The Bite Stuff (site v2)
http://qilong.wordpress.com/

"Innocent, unbiased observation is a myth." --- P.B. Medawar (1969)


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