Tyrannosaur stuff

[Tim Williams <twilliams_alpha@hotmail.com>]

Ken Carpenter wrote:

> It may very well be that Tany was previously named, so offer your evidence.

Currently there is no evidence - I got nuttin'.  There is no reason to 
believe that there was not more than one Morrison tyrannosauroid: Tany and 
Stokesy.  In fact, there may have been several tyrannosauroids scooting 
around North America during the Late Jurassic, especially if (a) the 
tyrannosaurid/itemirid-like braincase from CLDQ that was (provisionally) 
referred to _Stokesosaurus_ represents a new taxon; and/or (b) the 
_Stokesosaurus_-like ilium from South Dakota comes from another taxon (maybe 
_Aviatyrannis_).  I was just reiterating the possibility that 
_Tanycolagreus_ and _Stokesosaurus_ *might* be the same (which, 
incidentally, would give a very decent skeleton); I was in no way endorsing 
the suggestion.

> Personal opinion (contrary to what Bakker may think) is not scientific 
> fact.  ;-)

What??!!  Now you tell me!!!

Tom Holtz wrote:

> Tracy Ford wrapped things up with a review of the tyrannosauroid record 
> through time. While I don't agree with all his taxonomy or systematics 
> (i.e., the inclusion of Iliosuchus or Siamotyrannus in Tyrannosauroidea), 
> he did show that tyrants spent most of their
> history as small-bodied critters.

This is interesting, given that there is currently no evidence that the 
small-bodied tyrannosauroids survived into the Late Cretaceous (unless 
_Itemirus_ is a tyrannosauroid - and even this critter lived much earlier 
than the big-ass tyrannosaurids of the Campano-Maastrichtian).  Late 
Cretaceous dromaeosaurs, by contrast, came in all sizes.

Cheers

Tim