RE: Tetanurae

["Thomas R. Holtz, Jr." <tholtz@geol.umd.edu>]

> From: owner-DINOSAUR@usc.edu [mailto:owner-DINOSAUR@usc.edu]On Behalf Of
> Tim Williams
>
> Mike Keesey wrote:
> 
> >I really don't see why this is a problem. If abelisaurs are tetanurans, 
> >then they're tetanurans.
> 
> Yes, Mickey M. feels the same way.

As do I. (And thanks, Adam Yates, for posting about the JAES paper with the 
tetanurine abelisaurs).

>  True, as a stem- err... branch-based 
> clade, Tetanurae is an idea as much as a category.  The fact that you both 
> agree makes me re-think this.  But I think Sereno's "stability of content" 
> is important here.

There is only the most minor "stability of content" issue here (i.e., a group 
barely known at the time Tetanurae was coined).

                Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
        Senior Lecturer, Vertebrate Paleontology
Department of Geology           Director, Earth, Life & Time Program
University of Maryland          College Park Scholars
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