Re: Brontosauria? Vote for Apatosauria!

[David Marjanovic <david.marjanovic@gmx.at>]

> > Doesn't this mean that Atlantosauridae has priority? - even over 
> > Diplodocidae?
>
> We should be using Podokesauridae and Podokesauroidea instead of 
> Coelophysidae and Coelophysoidea too.  Megalosauroidea instead of 
> Spinosauroidea.  Metriacanthosauridae instead of Sinraptoridae.  But eh, 
> who are we to follow ICZN rules? ;)

Before 1961 it was OK to let family-group names disappear if their eponymous 
genera were sunk in synonymy.

Was Megalosauroidea ever formally named as an ICZN taxon, complete with 
"superfam. nov."?

If *Metriacanthosaurus* really turns out to be a sinraptorid, however... 
Metriacanthosauridae might qualify as a nomen nudum (I don't have PDW here, 
nor do I know if that particular work introduced the name), but if not, it 
certainly has priority.

Fortunately the PhyloCode will erase this question. We'll just need a few 
clicks to find out which of the names applicable to a clade has the lowest 
registration number. This will also prevent a lot of synonyms from ever 
being published in the first place.