Re: Sarcosuchus

["Ken Kinman" <kinman@hotmail.com>]

    Phobosuchus is apparently no longer considered a separate genus and is 
widely regarded as a junior synonym of Deinosuchus, which is an alligatoroid 
(to be cladistically "precise").
    It is therefore a crocodilian (= crocodylian), in the strict sense (and 
therefore in the broad sense as well).  Or call it an alligatoroid 
eusuchian, and then there will hopefully be no confusion (better to be a 
little redundant than misunderstood).
             ----------Ken
P.S.  However, if you are a reporter, don't call it an "alligator", or the 
strict cladists are liable to think you don't know the difference between a 
spider and an insect.   :-)

*******************************************

Silvio Renesto wrote:
> Had come to my mind that in Venice (Italy) Natural History Museum,  along
> with  the mounted skeleton of Ouranosaurus there is a nearly complete
> skeleton (at least skull and many dermal plates) of a BIG crocodil(iform?)
> of Sarcosuchus size, labelled probably as Phobosuchus. It is written it
> becomes from the same site of Ouranosaurus. Do you know about this? I do
> not know if there is literature on it.
>
>                                               Silvio Renesto




_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp