Re: Alioramus

["Tim Donovan" <msdonovan66@hotmail.com>]

Jaime A. Headden wrote:

> Tim Donovan (msdonovan66@hotmail.com) wrote:

> <P. Currie mentioned a broad nuchal crest, downturned occiput and other
> features which suggest Alioramus is most closely related to Tarbosaurus,
> Daspletosaurus and T.rex. Of course, the skull of Alioramus is much longer
>  and lower, but he pointed out that a long, low skull is a juvenile
> feature.>
>
>   Where did Currie mention this?

  The Age of Dinosaurs in Russia and Mongolia.

It has been suggested before that for
> tyrannosaurines, at least, the juvnile features are adult features of more
> primitive forms, as seen in the postcrania of a *Gorgosaurus* ontogenetic
> series. The big guys, Tarbo, Tyranno, and Daspleto, have modified these
> into their adulthood. *Alioramus*, however, has features of the jaw
> including tooth
> size, morphology, and tooth count, as well as progressive nasal
> ornamentation, that alludes to its adult nature and not being a juvenile
> *Tarbosaurus*,

P. Currie didn't say this in the book. He wrote that the nasal bumps clearly 
distinguished Alioramus from T. bataar, but it could be a juvenile and 
seemed most closely related to the advanced tyrannosaurs.



as I think Hurum and Currie hinted at in JVP in 2001.
>   Cheers,
>
> =====
> Jaime A. Headden
>
>   Little steps are often the hardest to take.  We are too used to making 
> leaps in the face of adversity, that a simple skip is so hard to do.  We 
> should all learn to walk soft, walk small, see the world around us rather 
> than zoom by it.
>
> "Innocent, unbiased observation is a myth." --- P.B. Medawar (1969)
>
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