Re: postparietal fenestrae lost

["Jaime A. Headden" <qilongia@yahoo.com>]

  Ken Kinman wishes to know the distribution of postparietal fenestrae in 
crurotarsans, so I guess
I should offer a few taxa for conciliation:

  This is the plesiomorphic condition for archosaurs. It is present in non 
archosaurs, including
the mid-Triassic Chinese *Turfanosuchus*  (Young, 1973; but see Wu and Russell, 
2001, JVP 21(1):
40-50), chasmatosaurs (see Charig & Reig, 1970, Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 2: 
125-171), rauisuchids (see
Sereno & Arcucci, 1990, Neues J. Geol. Pal., Abh. 180: 21-52), 
mesoeucrocodylians (see Benton &
Clark, 1988, in Benton (ed.) Phylogeny of the Classification of the tetrapoda, 
vol. 1, pp
295-338), basal Archosauria and other crocodylomorphs, including sphenosuchians 
such as
*Hesperosuchians* (Colbert, 1952, AMNH Bull. 99: 561-592; but see also Clark, 
Sues & Berman, 2000,
JVP 20(4): 683-704); aetosaurs also have this fenestra (Sereno and Arcucci, 
1990, above).
*Protosuchus,* a basal archosaur, apparently lacks this feature, but this is a 
restricted feature.

  This suggests the feature is prevalent among Archosauria and Crurotarsi, 
plesiomorphically
acquired, and lost in some very restricted groups, including dinosaurs.


=====
Jaime A. Headden

  Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhr-gen-ti-na
  Where the Wind Comes Sweeping Down the Pampas!!!!

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