RE: Ankylosaurs, Stegosaurs, and other fun things..

["Williams, Tim" <TiJaWi@agron.iastate.edu>]

Buckaroobwana@aol.com wrote:

> What is the precise relationship between Stegosaurs and Ankylosaurs? 
> [snip]  Or are they both derived from a common ancestor? 

Ultimately, yes.  ;-)  As to whether the stegosaurs and ankylosaurs comprise
a clade to the exclusion of all other taxa, then this is a little more
contentious.  Most analyses place the Stegosauria and Ankylosauria as sister
taxa within a clade called the Eurypoda.  The Eurypoda and a collection of
basal taxa (scutellosaurs, scelidosaurs) make up the clade Thyreophora.

However, there are folks (including two or more on the DML) who hold strong
views to the contrary, and do not regard stegosaurs and ankylosaurs as
especially closely related, and regard the Thyreophora as polyphyletic.

> Besides, all this dino-bird talk gets tiresome after a while. This is
> the Dinosaur Mailing List, not the Dinosaur/Bird only list.

Sorry, that's partly my fault.  I do go on a bit.  However, I would point
out that most keyboards are equipped with a "Delete" key.  



Tim