Re: Dino Birds (was Re: Dinosaur = extinct animal)

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

At 11:55 AM 7/19/99 -0400, Dinogeorge@aol.com wrote:
>My own preference is to subdivide a taxon into a single paraphyletic 
>ancestral subtaxon for the usually very similar basal forms plus a set of 
>monophyletic subtaxa for the various kinds of descendant forms.

Where that is consonant with the adaptations seen, it is the best solution,
I quite agree.

The other pattern I find frequently is successively more derived ancestral
groups, with a few final monophyletic ones.  A case in point is my current
classification of theropods into four groups: Herrerasauria (basal
theropods), Ceratosauria (monophyletic), Carnosauria (basal tetanurans),
and Coelurosauria (basal to Aves, which is monophyletic).

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