Re: Re: Irritator and Spinosaurids

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

>>I'd like to fly an highly speculative kite for the troops to take shots at.
>>I've just got hold of the description of Irritator and a few points 
>>strikeme as very interesting. The authors note that there is a similarity 
>>between the teeth of Irritator and those of Spinosaurids. I was also 
>>struck by the similarity of Irritator to Baryonyx in gross skull shape, 

[some stuff deleted]
>
>You betcha, Red Riding Hood. I've already installed family Irritatoridae as
>the fourth family of Theropod suborder Spinosauria for exactly the reasons
>you cite.
>
>Bullatosauria would be more remote, however. The key character is the
>inflated parasphenoid capsule, and that's not available in the specimen as
>far as I can tell. The other troodontid apomorphies seem weak to me.
>
And then, of course, there is the 'oviraptorosaurid' (sic) sacrum from the
Santana to take care off...

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