RE: Ornithoms, Parrots, and others

[chris brochu <cbrochu@fmppr.fmnh.org>]

 If you don't
>believe in tooth identifications you would have to explain why the tooth
>characters that can be used to diagnose K coelurosaur groups suddenly no
>longer diagnose these groups when you dip below the J-K boundary.

I, for one, will not accept archosaur taxon ID's beyond a course taxonomic
level, unless the teeth in question are from units where you also find them
attached to a skull.  They're about the most plastic part of an archosaur,
evolve more rapidly than anything else, can vary within a population more
than just about any part, and can mislead very easily.


chris

Christopher Brochu
Department of Geology
Field Museum of Natural History
Roosevelt Road at Lake Shore Drive
Chicago, IL 60605

312-922-9410