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Re: Aquatic dinosaurs



From: Dinogeorge@aol.com

 > Looked at the right way, it almost seems as if _Diceratops_ is
 > indeed morphologically intermediate between _Torosaurus_ and
 > _Triceratops_, though significantly closer to _Triceratops_.

Exactly - AND, except for being a bit late, _Diceratops_ seems like the
direct ancestor of _Triceratops horridus_. [The known species of
Torosaurus are far too late in time to be likely direct ancestors,
however].

Further, _T. horridus_ is almost certainly the direct ancestor of _T.
prorsus_, since it has no autapomorphies that I could determine.

This produces a fairly interesting chain:
        basal Torosaurus => Diceratops => T. horridus => T. prorsus

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

The peace of God be with you.