Re: Cladistic question (was Re: Centrosaurines)

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

>Here's an interesting thought.  What would happen if someone was to take a=
> cladogram, and superimpose it onto the geologic time scale (a combination=
> of cladistics and phylogeny)?  Would this be informative, or merely=
> garbage?  At first glance, it could be a powerfull tool.  One could use=
> cladistics to see how animals are related (something that the time scale=
> could obscure), and then put in the timescale, where it could be more meani=
>ngfull.
>
Ummmmm.....

The graphic you just described (i.e., a cladogram mapped ontp stratigraphy)
IS a phylogeny.  In someways it is more meaningful, indeed!  Among others,
it allows for putting a putative ancestor directly ancestral to the
hypothesized descendants.

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