Avipoda (was RE: Dilophosaurus)

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

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-DINOSAUR@usc.edu [mailto:owner-DINOSAUR@usc.edu] 
> On Behalf Of Tim Williams
> 
> Yes, but the name Avepoda first *appeared* in PDW:
> 
> 
> "...the bird foot - in which the inner cannon bone does not 
> reach the ankle - is especially distinctive.  It is not 
> proven to appear anywhere else, and may have evolved only 
> once, so it is a good minimum definition of the Theropoda.  
> (In this regard, the name Theropoda, which means 
> beast-footed, is most inappropriate.  Avepoda would be much 
> better, but it is too late for that.)"
> 
> 
> So Avepoda was originally mentioned as a replacement name for 
> Theropoda (Paul, 1988), before being formally applied to a 
> less inclusive clade (Paul, 2002).

Although it gets less press, there is a related name Avipoda Novas 1992 "coined 
to include Eustreptospondylus (Callovian, England),
Piatnitzkysaurus (Callovian, Patagonia), Compsognathus (Tithonian, Germany; 
Portlandian, France), and Tetanurae (=Allosaurus +
Coelurosauria)".

Novas' incarnation of Tetanurae here is overly restricted, and is in fact 
Avethropoda aka Neotetanurae. But Avipoda could be used
for a node-based clade incorporating Megalosauroidea, Carnosauria, and 
Coelurosauria. At present that name isn't particularly
helpful, as we don't have any clear tetanurines (i.e., taxa closer to Passer 
than to Ceratosaurus) that are not also 'avipods' in
this sense. But in the future, discovery of basal tetanurines rootward of 
'Avipoda' could make the term acutally serve a purpose.

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, Science & Global Change Program, College Park Scholars
http://www.geol.umd.edu/sgc
Fax: 301-314-9843

Mailing Address:        Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
                        Department of Geology
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                        University of Maryland
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