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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