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Re: Dinosaur Genera List corrections #98
At 02:11 PM 11/4/98 -0000, John Jackson wrote:
>--Original Message-- From: Dinogeorge@aol.com Date: 04 November 1998 01:14
>
>> The paper also finds several spinosaurid characters in the
>ornithomimosaurian
>_Pelecanimimus_ and suggests that ornithomimids and spinosaurids may share a
>fairly close common ancestor. Food for thought
><
Actually, this is not correct. Taquet and Russell argue that
*_Pelecanimimus_* and spinosaurids are linked, and futher that _Pel._ is
*not* an ornithomimosaur. Instead, they consider it an
"'ornithomimid-mimic' related to the spinosaurs." (p. 352).
This is at odds with the buttloads of ornithomimosaurian synapomorphies of
_Pelecanimimus_, as well as characters it shares with troodontids and other
coelurosaurs which are lacking in spinosaurids.
Quite frankly, this seems to be the weakest part of the paper.
>> Wouldn't it be interesting if
>_Deinocheirus_, a problematic theropod that some think is closely related to
>ornithomimids, turns out to be a spinosauroid of some kind?
><
Except _Deinocheirus_ possesses ornithomimosaurian characteristics, and
lacks those of spinosaurids.
>So _Deinocheirus_ isn't a segnosaur then? Since the weekend
>ornithomimosaurs and segnos might well be mutually exclusive again.
_Deinocheirus_ doesn't have segnosaurian features: it is _Therizinosaurus_
that does.
More info on spinosaurs in the not-too-distant future.
Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
Vertebrate Paleontologist Webpage: http://www.geol.umd.edu
Dept. of Geology Email:tholtz@geol.umd.edu
University of Maryland Phone:301-405-4084
College Park, MD 20742 Fax: 301-314-9661