Re: Mesozoic-ware

["Nicholas R. Longrich" <longrich@phoenix.Princeton.EDU>]

On Sat, 13 Jan 1996, Jeff Poling wrote:

> >(as I personally 
> >believe very strongly that dinosaurs are *not* reptiles.
> 
>    Dinosaurs certainly are reptiles.

        That depends on what one defines to be a reptile. Under certain 
definitions of reptile (cold blooded, sprawling legs) dinosaurs don't 
fit. Under others, they do. But then, if dinosaurs are reptiles, what are 
birds? Birds are dinosaurs, so does the commutative property (A=B, B=C, so
A=C) apply here and make them reptiles? I suppose we could argue they're 
sufficiently different from dinosaurs to qualify for their own class, but 
we still consider bats mammals, too, and dinosaurs have some significant 
differences of their own.  
        
nick L.