More Sciurimimus stuff

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

For those who don't recall, the high-resolution picture of this critter
was posted on this list months ago:
http://mineralientage.de/uploads/tx_downloads/P1150469.JPG

The authors try the animal in a number of matrices. In some it comes out
as a true megalosaurid; in others, a basal tetanurine or neotetanurine of
uncertain affinity. Curiously, when Juravenator is included in the
matrices, it and Sciurimimus come out as sister taxa; when Sciurimimus is
removed, Juravenator pops back to being a basal coelurosaur.

Could Sciurimimus be falling out as a megalosauroid because it is a
juvenile (and juveniles tend to fall basal to the adult position)?
Perhaps, although the authors identify some megalosauroid features.

Sadly, the Carrano et al. tetanurine phylogeny came out too late for
Sciurimimus to be plugged into it (not that that is the best matrix, as it
doesn't sample enough coelurosaurs to really test this).


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
                        Building 237, Room 1117
                        University of Maryland
                        College Park, MD 20742 USA