Re: Frankenstein's Papers

[David Marjanovic <david.marjanovic@gmx.at>]

> As already found by Joyce (2008, Peabody Museum Bulletin, testudinate 
> phylogeny) and predicted by Joyce & Sterli (2007, Acta Pal. Pol., 
> redescription of *Kayentachelys* showing the absence of testudine 
> features).

That's Joyce (2007) and Sterli & Joyce (2007), respectively.

Sterli (2008) took the analysis by Joyce (2007), replaced the all-zero 
outgroup (!) by four real taxa (the procolophonoid *Owenetta*, the 
pareiasaur *Anthodon*, the sauropterygian *Simosaurus*, and *Sphenodon*), 
unfortunately specified that outgroup to be monophyletic (!) before the 
analysis (or at least I can't explain the tree otherwise), and added a few 
taxa and characters. Result:

--+--+--*Owenetta*
 |  |--*Anthodon*
 |  `--+--*Simosaurus*
 |     `--*Sphenodon*
 `--Testudinata
      |--*Proganochelys*
      `--+--+--*Palaeochersis*
         |  `--*Australochelys*
         `--+--*Proterochersis*
            `--+--*Kayentachelys*
               |--*Condorchelys*
               |--*Indochelys*
               |--*Heckerochelys*
               `--+--+--*Meiolania platyceps*
                  |  `--*Mongolochelys*
                  `--+--*Kallokibotion*
                     `--Testudines

The tree within Testudines apparently hasn't changed -- it isn't shown 
anywhere, not even in the supplementary information.

ScienceNOW has a short report on this paper that has Gaffney saying he 
doesn't believe it and thinks *Condorchelys* is a cryptodire (in other 
words, that the *Proterochersis* node is Testudines -- this is the view he 
founded in 1975). His reasons are not given.

The perhaps most important result by Joyce (2007) was that the position of 
Pleurodira in the turtle tree is surprisingly unstable...