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BANDS > PADS vs. PALS
While others are scoffing at Ruben (and for good reason), there's another very
large group of "believers" that claims Pterosaurs Are Dinosaur Sisters (PADS)
when no series of taxa anywhere within the Archosauromorpha shows any
indication of a gradual increase in pterosaurian characters.
In fact, as Bennett 1996 showed (and Hone and Benton 2008 confirmed) when you
remove hind limb characters pterosaurs bounce out of a sister taxon
relationship with Scleromochlus and plummet down to erythrosuchians and
proterosuchians. In a cladogram that otherwise can safely nest skull-only and
skull-less taxa, this is a big red flag indicating gamut problems.
PALS (Pterosaurs are Lizard Sisters) is where you'll find the series of taxa
documenting a gradual increase in pterosaurian characters. You can remove hind
limb characters safely without shifting tree topology.
David Peters