Re: Fixing dinosaurian carnivour question

[Philidor11@aol.com]

In a message dated 5/27/99 4:08:40 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
dollan@cyberport.net writes:

<< I know, but I had become somewhat nettled (perhaps unrightfully so) that
 birds were being used as answers, when it was rather obvious what
 Megaraptor was getting at.  Perhaps he should have used something akin to
 "the smallest classical Dinosaur", or some such thing, but in the end it
 becomes rather pedantic for some of us amateurs. >>

The exclusion of subjectivity is the underlying issue here, and it shows up 
in everything from naming (apatosaur/brontosaur) to definition (reptilia) to 
classification systems (cladistics/Linnaean).  The assumption is that 
unassailable rules can be found in each situation and that an arbitrary 
measure (such as, in a different context, a foot) can be replaced with an 
objective measure (a meter).
To me, the problem is whether the available information is sufficient to 
allow for a fully inclusive solution.  A scientist working on a problem in 
physics or chemistry can in many cases observe the entire problem being 
investigated in a lab.  The data needed to produce a solution can be 
identified and, with effort, obtained.
Paleontology works with objects which at present can be in only one place at 
a time, the data are obviously incomplete, and the only way to get additional 
information is to wait and hope.  Inference has to be piled on inference, and 
a number of sciences and techniques have to be applied by the same individual 
to produce...an interpretation of the evidence.  Admirable detective work.
Still, the result of this work is a logical argument, not an inclusive, 
unique solution.  In a situation like this, what you're calling pedantry is a 
very understandable response to the limitations of, to me, the best 
speculation now going on outside physics.  I do, though, think that sometimes 
the decisions made could be tolerant rather than insistent. For example, the 
decision to use apatosaur (which means something like misc. dino) was 
unnecessary when brontosaur (thunder dino) was popularly accepted and 
evocative.  From the Gould essay (Bully for Brontosaurus), it was possible to 
retain the older term.  I wish that had been done.  If some miscellaneous old 
tooth named the Greek or Latin for 'banana tooth' turns out to be an older 
naming than Tyrannosaurus Rex, I would really dislike seeing my other 
favorite dinosaur name attacked.
At any rate, annoyances aside, I enjoy being a guest at this discussion.