Re: Classification of dinosaurs

[Stan Friesen <swf@ElSegundoCA.NCR.COM>]

>From: LBlosser@aol.com
 >  Terms like "Allosauroidea", "Megalosauroidea", and the like, while readily
 > understandable, are still a surprise when encountered.  Does anyone have the
 > latest classification in a form that could be posted? 

The problem is that the details are constantly being changed, and
there are differences in opinion as to the best classification, so
no one classification is going to be entirely "compltete".

Now, names ending in "-oidea" are always superfamilies - groups
of related families not sufficiently distinct to be considred
as orders or suborders.

 >  Or as a file that
 > could be e-mailed?  I realize these things are always in a state of flux, but
 > I'm curious to see what some of the latest thinking is regarding dinosaur
 > phylogeny (if that's the right term).

Well, that is one term: it refers to the family tree, so to speak.
Phylogenies do not necessarily have to be classifications.

Another term is taxonomy, which refers to the process of deriving
a classification.

Then there is the term classification, which is the set of nested,
named groups.


swf@elsegundoca.ncr.com         sarima@netcom.com

The peace of God be with you.