Re: Synapsids and Basal Reptiles (was: Re: Elvis, Sue, and a guy

[Pieter.Depuydt@rug.ac.be]

you wrote:
> Is Euryapsida obsolete ? It is given in M J Benton's Vertebrate Palaeontology
> (1997) as a monophylatic clade (page 149, Fig.6.6) with a list of diagnostic
> features.

Yes, you're right. Euryapsida has been redefined as a monophyletic 
taxon and includes as such most of the taxa that have the "euryapsid" 
temporal fenestra. I was thinking of the classical distinction of the 
amniotes in 'anapsids', 'diapsids', 'synapsids' and 'euryapsids' 
based upon the configuration of the temporal fenestra (which is now 
known to have evolved very similarly in unrelated taxa). As such, the 
"euryapsid" configuration of the temporal fenestra in Araeoscelis and 
in Euryapsida evolved independently. Thanks for backing up.

Pieter Depuydt