Tetanurae

["T. Michael Keesey" <keesey@gmail.com>]

On 12/7/06, Jamie Stearns <stearns5@cox.net> wrote:
> As for the relationship between Ceratosaurus, coelophysoids, abelisauroids,
> and tetanurans, I would say that while coelophysoids are probably a
> paraphyletic group

_Coelophysoidea_ is defined as everything sharing more recent ancestry
with _Coelophysis bauri_ than with _Ceratosaurus nasicornis_.
Therefore, it cannot possibly be paraphyletic. Worst it could be is
empty, if _C. bauri_ were ancestral to _C. nasicornis_.

What you probably mean is that animals curently considered
coelophysoid may in fact be something else (outside _Coelophysoidea_ +
_Neotheropoda_, closer to _Neotheropoda_ than to _Coelophysoidea_,
etc.).
--
T. Michael Keesey
The Dinosauricon: http://dino.lm.com
Parry & Carney: http://parryandcarney.com
ISPN Forum: http://www.phylonames.org/forum/