Re: Turtles and Crocodylians are not Reptiles - no? What are they?

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

> Seriously, if turtles and crocodiles aren't reptiles, what are tehy?

Easy. Turtles are turtles and crocodiles are crocodiles. The same way that 
mammals are mammals and birds are birds.

> In layman's terms, now.   Highly technical categories that noone knows 
> what they mean won't do anybody any good!  ""Lepidosauria"" sounds like a 
> matter of how many angels can dance on the end of a pin.

"Reptilia" _has never been_ a layman's term. How many people around you know 
that lizards and salamanders don't belong together?

> Mind you, I understand why that not even frogs are amphibians - even if my 
> nephews are haplessly trying to raise a bunch of tadpoles in a fish bowl. 
> Well, now, we know they aren't amphibians, because if they were actually 
> on their way to evolving into reptiles, they'd be smart enough to jump out 
> of the bowl and demand a water change.

That was supposed to be funny, right?

> Seriously, who came up with this stuff - a parrot?    LOLOLOLOL!  Well, I
> needed a good laugh.

If you're old enough to have nephews, you should have shed your naive, 
hapless arrogance long ago... sometimes, you see, if something is 
counterintuitive to you, that just means you have a bit more to learn.

That said, while restricting Reptilia to the lepidosaurs _is_ the best way 
to save that name, I'm in favor of dropping the name Reptilia altogether. It 
comes with way too much historical baggage. Call Lepidosauria Lepidosauria.