Re: Aliwalia [from Adam Yates]

[Mickey Mortimer <Mickey_Mortimer111@msn.com>]

Tim Williams wrote-

> Thus, _Aliwalia rex_ is regarded by Adam as a junior synonym of 
> _Eucnemosaurus fortis_, which is revived as a valid name.  Those old 
> prosauropod names appear to be making a comeback (_Eucnemosaurus_, 
> _Plateosauravus_, _Gresslyosaurus_, etc).  I guess the implication is that 
> the maxilla hitherto referred (albeit provisionally) to _Aliwalia_ does 
> not belong to _Eucnemosaurus_, since it clearly comes from a carnivore. 
> My apologies to Mickey for throwing cold water on his suggestion in a 
> previous post that _Aliwalia_ might be a sauropodomorph.  :-)

No apologies necessary.  Adam told me about Aliwalia months ago, so I had 
more than just Langer's statements to base my comment on.  I just couldn't 
reveal the details about why I put so much faith in the sauropodomorph 
features Langer noted. :)

Interesting that massospondylids, Yunnanosaurus and 'riojasaurids' have been 
moved to basal sauropod status in Yates' latest analyses though.  I think 
that leaves plateosaurids as the only prosauropods (unless Efraasia's 
position has stabilized), presumably with Saturnalia and Thecodontosaurus 
still outside the Prosauropoda + Sauropoda clade.

Mickey Mortimer