As an (amateur) ornithologist, faced with the current debate as to what constitutes a subspecies/species in that taxon, I fully agree with this. It is ridiculous to differentiate between subspecies at skeletal level without knowledge of overlying "plumage", "calls" or behaviour. Size is not a differentiation on its own.
-----Original Message-----
From: Xyvind M. Padron [SMTP:gorgosaur@hotmail.com]
Sent: Friday, November 23, 2001 1:26 PM
To: Dinogeorge@aol.com; dinosaur@usc.edu
Subject: Re: Dinosaur subspecies names?
i, for once, feel that one can't tell a subspecies out of skeleton.
If there is a difference in the skeletal structure we are diealing with
another species, or genus.
The only skeletal difference i could go on with, had to be size, like in
_P.tigris tigris_ and _P.tigris altaica_, but there is no skeletal
difference in _C.corone corone_ and _C.corone cornix_
I think the use of subspecies is far too vague to use in dinosaur taxonomy.
-DinosØMP
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