Re: ornithomimus...=struthiomimus?!?!?

[Stanley Friesen <sarima@ix.netcom.com>]

At 08:55 AM 5/2/97 -0400, Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. wrote:
>The dinosaurs Struthiomimus, Ornithomimus, and Dromiceiomimus are all
>EXCEEDINGLY similar in anatomy.  ...  I am
>somewhat sympathetic to Greg Paul's decision to lump all these guys
>(and Gallimimus, too) into Ornithomimus, but will wait until I get
>around to the ingroup phylogeny of the ornithomimosaurs before 
>commiting to that...

Well, nice to know I am not COMPLETELY alone here.

I have gotten a query as to why I included _Struthiomimus_ in
_Ornithomimus_ in my dinosaur list.

That whole group is hard to work with, due to those similarities.

> or...  (sorry if I forgot anyone there) or any
>other person who works with ornithomimid taxonomy would be very, very 
>hard pressed to tell these dinosaurs apart from long distance.

That was *my* reaction to that scene as well.

>  Manual anatomy would be impossible to
>resolve clearly at such a distance,

And at that speed.  (I mean, I know from experience how hard it is to see
structural details on a moving animal).

--------------
May the peace of God be with you.         sarima@ix.netcom.com
                                          sfriesen@netlock.com