Re: Ancestors [was: Re: And while on the theory of phylogenetic reconstruction...]

[David Marjanovic <david.marjanovic@gmx.at>]

> There appears to be a growing consensus that turtles are derived diapsids.

Off-topic... but... this looks somewhat like a self-fulfilling prophecy to
me. Sure, the molecular data do support this, but the morphological ties to
pareiasaurs are getting stronger instead of weaker. I wonder if long-branch
attraction to the frighteningly long branch of *Alligator* is involved... or
some other artifact due to the lack of molecular data from all the extinct
taxa.

> Grauer, D. and Martin, W. (2004).  "Reading the Entrails of Chickens:
>     Molecular Timescales of Evolution and the Illusion of Precision",
>     _Trends in Genetics_, 20(2):80-86.

Sounds interesting...

> Their Fig. 1 includes the possibility (i.e. the classical view) that
> turtles, as primitive anapsids, are the sister group to all other
> amniotes.

This is not the classical view. The classical view is Fig. 2A of Zardoya &
Meyer 2001 -- that turtles are anapsids and thus among the basalmost
sauropsids, while Sauropsida and Theropsida ( = Synapsida) stay
sistergroups.