[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index][Subject Index][Author Index]
Notarium question
Some pterosaurs have an obvious notarium.
Others obviously have no notarium.
And then there are others.... somewhere in between... it seems to
start with a anteroproximal lengthening of the vertebral spines... in
the next taxon they're touching one another... in the taxon
thereafter some actually fuse in certain portions, but not all the
way...
And I haven't even mentioned the scapulae yet. In some they are
nearly parallel to the vertebral spines, so, no factor. In others
they are transversely opposed and obviously somehow joined to the
vertebral spines, but in some cases the spines remain unfused. No
notarium.
Question is, when is it valid to call the structure a notarium? What
Rubicon must be crossed?
Is there such a thing as a pre-notarium? or proto-notarium?
And if such a structure evolved more than once, should we
differentiate these? Should we score them differently?
While others sleep comfortably, I'm tossing and turning : - )
David Peters
davidpeters@att.net