Re: Re: Synapsids are NOT reptiles!

[Thomas_R_HOLTZ@umail.umd.edu (th81)]

>>Synapsida is mammals and all taxa closer to mammals than to reptiles.
>>Sauropsida is reptiles and all taxa closer to reptiles than to mammals.
>
>So, what do you call the hinge between the two?  Does cladistic   taxonomy
even try to combine the other "apsids?"  If so, how?
>
Synapsida + Sauropsida has a long, honored, and very appropriate name:
Amniota.

All taxa closer to lepidosaurs and archosaurs than to turtles are Diapsida.
All taxa closer to turtles than to lepidosaurs and archosaurs are Anapsida.

I don't know if the Sauropterygia folk still use Euryapsida: I think some do.

Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
Vertebrate Paleontologist
Dept. of Geology
University of Maryland
College Park, MD  20742
Email:Thomas_R_HOLTZ@umail.umd.edu (th81)
Fax: 301-314-9661
Phone:301-405-4084