Re: Avian stem-group (was: BCF)

[Dinogeorge@aol.com]

In a message dated 8/26/02 2:49:13 AM EST, mightyodinn@yahoo.com writes:

<< I think this clade may hold the record for the most names. It has been 
called
 Dracones, Ornithosuchia, Avemetatarsalia, Ornithotarsi (I think incorrectly),
 Ornithodira (incorrectly), Panaves, and now Ornithes! (Is that name 
published?
 I like it, but for that clade I dunno....) >>

Time to discard those old names in favor of the one that makes the most 
sense. Haven't published Ornithes yet, although I discussed this idea in Dino 
Press #5 as well as here on the List. As I noted in the Dino Press series of 
articles, it is an annoying historical accident that dinosaurs were 
originally classified as reptiles. They should have been classified as birds, 
since they actually share more features with birds than they do with reptiles 
(people just didn't know how to classify things in those days). Now we have 
to fight a century and a half of dinosaurs-as-reptiles tradition. Note also 
that dinosaur footprints were called bird footprints well before they were 
called anything else.