Re: labels are imaginary

["Nicholas J. Pharris" <pharrinj@PLU.edu>]

On Tue, 6 Feb 1996 Dinogeorge@aol.com wrote:

> I have _Diplodocus_ and _Deinonychus_ in separate infraclasses, namely,
> Phytodinosauria and Aves. What I said was that birds aren't a twig on the
> bush, they're a bush on the bush. That's because there are so many known bird
> species. Why is this a bone of contention?
> 

This all began as a diatribe about the uselessness and untenability of 
separating birds from dinosaurs _sensu stricto_ and giving them their own 
class.  Admittedly, there are very many species of birds, but that is not 
to say they cannot all be easily subsumed under the Theropoda--and under the 
Tetanurae, under the Coelurosauria, under the Maniraptora...--as the 
phylogeny demands.

Nick Pharris
Pacific Lutheran University
Tacoma, WA 98447
(206)535-8204
PharriNJ@PLU.edu

"If you can't convince them, confuse them." -- Harry S. Truman