Re: Brontosauria? Vote for Apatosauria!

[Jay <sappororaptor@yahoo.com>]

--- David Marjanovic <david.marjanovic@gmx.at> wrote:

> >>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."?

Very debatable, isn't it? Spinosauroidea was supposedly used to indicate the 
phylogenetic
realtionship between Spinosaurids and Torvosaurus, with Spinosauroidea having 
priority over
Torvosauroidea. Megalosaurus may not unambigously belong to this group. Some 
exclude it citing
nomina dubia, others include it. If Megalosaurus's position is uncertain in 
this group, why would
one want the name Megalosauroidea for the group of Torvosaurus + Spinosauridae 
then to have
Megalosaurus subsequently removed from this group.

> 
> 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.

I agree here.  Sinraptoridae was clearly proposed for Sinraptor + 
Yangchuanosaurus.
Metriacanthosaurus isn't as well known wasn't even a purported founding member 
of this group. The
relationship between Sinraptor + Yangchuanosaurus is quite stable/strong and so 
warrants a name.
It can't be helped that Metriacanthosaurus's relationship was subsequently 
revealed. It may not
even be an sinraptorid. Is it an Allosauroid? 
But as some believe, if it's related to Sinraptor + Yangchuanosaurus, then 
perhaps both names
could be preseved. Sinraptoridae for the very stable and strong Sinraptor + 
Yangchuanosaurus, and
''Metriacanthosauridae'' for the less stable Sinraptoridae + Metriacanthosaurus 
- of course, this
ignores rank. 

perhaps  Metriacanthosauroidea?  Yuk! :(

i hate old linnean rank. :(

> 
> 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. 

Still waiting
> 
> 



                
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