Re: New in Paleobiology

["Jaime A. Headden" <qilongia@yahoo.com>]

Jura (pristichampsus@yahoo.com) wrote:

< What is a scute?
 
Last I checked, scutes were sort of a catchall term for any broad, shield like
scale. Yet de Ricqlés et al, are clearly referring to osteoderms in their
description of thyreophoran "scutes."
 
So then, does the descriptive umbrella known as a scute, now include
osteoderms; conversely, has it always?>

  Blows (1987, then in 2001), Ford in 2000, and Sheyer and Sander in 2004, have
attempted to discuss the nature and in part the terminology of osteoderms. In
this case, a scute has been used for any class of osteoderm not completely
imbedded in the skin which is NOT a spike, plate, but usually with a keel or
spine associated with a broad base or plate as part of the element, or at least
this is a decent synthesis of their usage.

  Blows, W. T. 1987. The armoured dinosaur *Polacanthus foxii* from the Lower
    Cretaceous of the Isle of Wight. _Palaeontology_ 30:557?580.
  ____________ 2001. Dermal armor of the polacanthine ankylosaurs; pp. 363?385
    in K. Carpenter (ed.), _The Armored Dinosaurs_. Indiana University Press,
    Bloomington.
  Ford, T. L. 2000. A review of ankylosaur osteoderms from New Mexico and a
    preliminary review of ankylosaur armor. _New Mexico Museum of Natural
    History and Science Bulletin_ 17:157?176.
  Scheyer, T, M. and P. M. Sander. 2004. Histology of ankylosaur osteoderms:
    Implications for systematics and function. _Journal of Vertebrate
    Paleontology_ 24(4):874-893.

  "Scute" is less of a catchall than is "osteoderm."

  Cheers,

Jaime A. Headden

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in the face of adversity, that a simple skip is so hard to do.  We should all 
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