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Re: JP - Frog DNA



On Sun, 4 Aug 1996, TwoSpooky wrote:

> At 07:44 PM 7/30/96 -0400, George Olshevsky wrote:
> 
> >Birds are also archosaurs, and more closely related to all dinosaurs than are
> >any crocs. The crocs (and other thecodontians) diverged from the dino-bird
> >lineage earlier than the various dinosaur groups.
> 
> What about lizards like the Tuatara? I'm curious...

Firstly, though related, the tuatara is not a lizard. It is the sole 
surviving member of a group known as the sphenodonts. Together 
sphenodonts and squamates (lizards and those special legless lizards we 
call snakes) make up a group called the Lepidosauria wich is the sister 
group to the Archosauria. So it is a myth that the tuatara is a direct 
dinosaurian decendant.