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Re: Dino Classification Made Simple



At 04:01 PM 4/27/99 -0600, John M. Dollan wrote:
>Hi folks...
>
>I know I've belabored this subject long enough, but after speaking with
>some friends and professors here, I've decided that a simplistic
>classification system, for the general viewer, would be best when I
>create my web page for all confirmed Dinosaur species.
>
>In other words, rather than worrying about subclasses, infraorders, what
>class goes under what class, and so on, I thought I would perform a very
>simple classification method that would give a new comer to Dinosaurs a
>general idea of where a species might fit.

Well, I might first ask "why?".  Many of the "intermediate" groups
(Maniraptora, Marginocephalia, Neoceratopsia, etc.) are much more
informative in terms of anatomy, diversity, and so forth than individual
species such as _Ornithodesmus cluniculus_, _Gravitholus albertae_, or
_Breviceratops kozlowskii_.

However, if you are dead set on doing a complete list of non-avian dinosaur
species, here are some possible higher-taxon organizations to use.  Each
iteration includes more details than the previous.  I have found each of
these to be useful to undergraduates and others in different types of classes:

Iteration I:
Dinosauria
  Saurischia
    Theropoda
    Sauropodomorpha
  Ornithischia
    Thyreophora
    Marginocephalia
    Ornithopoda

(note that there will be forms, such as _Pisanosaurus_, which will fall
through the gaps and not be included at the lowest level of the "ranks" above).

Iteration II:
Dinosauria
  Saurischia
    _Eoraptor_?
    Theropoda
      Herrerasauridae?
      Neotheropoda
        Ceratosauria
        Tetanurae
    Sauropodomorpha
      "prosauropods"
      Sauropoda
  Ornithischia
    basal ornithischians
    Thyreophora
      Stegosauria
      Ankylosauria
    Marginocephalia
      Pachycephalosauria
      Ceratopsia
    Ornithopoda
      Heterodontosauridae
      Hypsilophodontia
      Iguanodontia

Iteration III:
Dinosauria
  Saurischia
    _Eoraptor_?
    Theropoda
      Herrerasauridae?
      Neotheropoda
        Ceratosauria
          Coelophysoidea
          Neoceratosauria
        Tetanurae
          "megalosaurs"
          Avetheropoda
            Carnosauria
            Coelurosauria
              basal coelurosaurs
              Maniraptoriformes
                Tyrannosauridae
                Ornithomimosauria
                Oviraptorosauria
                Therizinosauroidea
                Troodontidae
                Dromaeosauridae
                Avialae
    Sauropodomorpha
      "prosauropods"
      Sauropoda
        basal sauropods
        Euhelopodidae
        Neosauropoda
          Macronaria
          Diplodocoidea
  Ornithischia
    basal ornithischians
    Thyreophora
      Stegosauria
      Ankylosauria
        Nodosauridae
        Ankylosauridae
    Cerapoda
      Marginocephalia
        Pachycephalosauria
        Ceratopsia
          _Psittacosaurus_
          Neoceratopsia
            "protoceratopsians"
            Ceratopsidae
       Ornithopoda
         Heterodontosauridae
         Euornithopoda
           Hypsilophodontia
           Iguanodontia
             basal iguanodonts
             Iguanodontoidea (aka Hadrosauriformes)
               Iguanodontidae
               Hadrosauridae

The next iteration would put structure within Maniraptoriformes, divide up
the various macronarian and diplodocoid families, include the traditional
subfamilies within Ceratopsidae and Hadrosauridae, etc.

Hope this helps.

Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
Vertebrate Paleontologist     Webpage: http://www.geol.umd.edu
Dept. of Geology              Email:tholtz@geol.umd.edu
University of Maryland        Phone:301-405-4084
College Park, MD  20742       Fax:  301-314-9661