Re: SVP Papers

["Mickey Mortimer" <Mickey_Mortimer111@msn.com>]

Nick Gardner wrote-

> James Kirkland: "A new, basal-most therizinosauroid (Theropoda:
Maniraptora) from Utah demonstrates a Pan-Laurasian distribution for Early
Cretaceous (Barremian) therizinosauroids"
> (More therizinosauroids from Utah?)

Hmm, so he decided it was a segnosaur, eh?  I'll really miss seeing this
presentation.

> Jun Liu: "Phylogeny of Ornithischia"
> (I await with great anticipation)

Same here.  Though I can picture it being both refreshing, or horrific.

> Peter Makovicky: "Basal ceratopsians from China and Mongolia with a
reappraisal of basal ceratopsian relationships"
> (I've been hoping for a paper on this for awhile with all of these
recently described forms- Lamaceratops, Magnirostris, Hongshanosaurus, etc.,
etc.)

Eh, I'd be suprised if it was any different than his thesis.  But hey, at
least it involves "Xuanhuasaurus".

> William Parsons: "Postcranial ontogeny of Deinonychus antirrhopus
(Saurischia, Theropoda)"
> (I hope that all these recent presentations on Deinonychus eventually
result in a nice big monograph on it)

>From his SVP 2002 abstract-
"A microsite within the basal portion of Unit VII of the Cloverly Formation
has produced
evidence of a small theropod (MOR 1178) that may be new to the faunal
assemblage thus far
recognized from this Early Cretaceous unit. Its characters are a shallowly
grooved neural platform
running along the dorsal surface of the distal caudal vertebrae, small
rectangular anterior
serrations on an associated maxillary tooth fragment, a strong sagittal
crest on the parietal
fragment, a particularly robust metatarsal IV, and 2nd 3rd and 4th pes
unguals which conform
closely to the proportional ratios found on Troodon formosus (NMC#8539). The
rostal/caudal
cross-sectional thickness of the maxillary tooth fragment is 5.8 mm. The
dorsal surface of the
ectopterygoid possesses complex pneumatic depressions. The skeletal elements
measure
approximately 76 percent the size of the corresponding bones of Deinonychus
antirrhopus
(YPM 5205, 5211, AMNH 3015), though the forelimbs are closer to 89 percent.
Thus the forelimbs
on this new specimen would be appear to be unusually long. The coracoid,
semilunate
carpal, cervical vertebrae and pes unguals display some unique and
interesting characters that
differ from Deinonychus antirrhopus. The sagittal crest continues on to the
frontal region on
the dorsal surface of the skull. This would create a striking feature in a
life reconstruction."
Making lemonade out of lemons, it seems. :-)  And we already have Ostrom's
huge monograph on Deinonychus, Nick.

> Karin Peyer: "The phylogenetic relationship of the French Compsognathus
within the Compsognathidae and coelurosaurs"
> (I wonder if this means the other specimen of Compsognathus isn't the same
species?)

As do I.

> David Smith: "A comparison of North American therizinosaur (Theropoda:
Dinosauria) braincases"

Nothronychus compared to... uh... Kirkland's new taxon?

> Ronald Tykoski: "Ontogenetic stage assessment and the position of
Coelophysoidea within basal Theropoda"
> (Always glad to see work on ontogeny in theropods!)

Must get his thesis sometime.

> Chong-xi Yuan: "New anatomical observation of Shenzhouraptor sinensis
(Avialae) of Jehol Biota from China and cursorial origin of avian flight"

Uh-oh.  This is the same Yuan who coauthored Scansoriopteryx with Czerkas.

Mickey Mortimer