? Why should every definition be based on extant taxa when possible ?Owen's original definition is compatible with the modern sense given to Dinosauria. There is no necessity to add *Passer domesticus* because it is still living today (living for the moment, at least). The issue would be its relationship with *Megalosaurus bucklandi*. So far as I know, few paleontologists would dispute the fact that they are closer to each other than to, let's say, *Diplodocus longus* or *Iguanodon bernissartensis*.
Le 22/10/2011 17:06, Robert Schenck a écrit :
What /would/ the type specimins be for dinosauria? Megalosaurus and Iguanodon (old name /and/ representative, at least as saur and ornith ischians?) Or would it be /passer domesticus/, as a living representative? Again, pretending that it was necessary or feasible? On Sat, Oct 22, 2011 at 12:10 AM, Jaime Headden<qi_leong@hotmail.com> wrote:Although coordinating the type species as specifiers for the clade definition, one could claim it could have anywhere from two to three type specimens. Cheers, Jaime A. Headden The Bite Stuff (site v2) http://qilong.wordpress.com/ "Innocent, unbiased observation is a myth." --- P.B. Medawar (1969) "Ever since man first left his cave and met a stranger with a different language and a new way of looking at things, the human race has had a dream: to kill him, so we don't have to learn his language or his new way of looking at things." --- Zapp Brannigan (Beast With a Billion Backs) ----------------------------------------Date: Sat, 22 Oct 2011 06:08:51 +0200 From: david.marjanovic@gmx.at To: dinosaur@usc.edu Subject: Re: tiny-armed theropods On Oct. 17th 02:21, Anthony Docimo wrote:that reminds me - what is the type specimen of _Dinosauria_? surely after over a century of new discoveries, it is even less secure than _Troodon_'s type fossil in Troodontidae(sp).Being above the family group of ranks, Dinosauria does not have a type specimen, not even indirectly. (In animal nomenclature, species have type specimens, genera have type species, and so on; superfamilies have type families; taxa at higher ranks lack types, which is often a distinct disadvantage.)