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Aliwalia (was Re: taxonomy is not stratigraphy (was Re: JVP 25(2): New Dinos,...



Mickey Mortimer wrote:

> _Aliwalia_ was pretty big too. It might have been a herrerasaurian.

Or a sauropodomorph (Langer, 2004)....

If this is Langer's chapter in the new Dinosauria volume, then my impression is that he was a little more circumspect in his assessment of the _Aliwalia_ femur. The femur does show one or two sauropodomorph-like characters; then again, it also shows other features in common with non-sauropodomorphs. Langer concluded that the femur was probably dinosaurian, but couldn't stick his neck out beyond that.


Interestingly, the _Aliwalia_ femur was found associated with sauropodomorph material, and was originally referred to _Euskelosaurus_. As was the maxilla, I think - which belongs to a carnivore, but perhaps not to _Aliwalia_. Over to Adam Yates...

Langer's chapter is quite interesting, given that, among other things, he revives the idea that _Spondylosoma_ might be a dinosaur (or at least include dinosaurian material) from the Ladinian. He also disputes the sauropodomorph affinities of _Guaibasaurus_, and instead aligns it with the Theropoda. Under Padian and May's definition, it would be a theropod.

Cheers

Tim