An earthquake has struck the paleontology world !!!...
http://www.livescience.com/58374-update ... 0170324-ls
BillT
The Dinosaur Family Tree Has Been Uprooted..
- actinophrys
- Posts: 194
- Joined: Tue Oct 21, 2014 6:45 am
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Re: The Dinosaur Family Tree Has Been Uprooted..
It's a very interesting result to me! As a rule, a single new cladogram should be taken with a good dose of salt, I'd say especially when it contradicts relationships that seem very well-established. Those very often get overturned or at least left questionable with new data.
But this is the first time I've ever seen the main dinosaur splits debated, and it makes me wonder if they even were so plain in the first place, or just not really considered. For instance that's sort of how I felt about the idea that annelids belong near molluscs not arthropods. There was a lot of investigation and debate before it was generally accepted, but it seems to me that the moment it was proposed segmentation might have developed twice, it made so much sense as they really have little else in common.
I have mixed feelings about redefining Saurischia to exclude most of the traditional saurischians, though. I think I get why, they don't actually all have lizard-like hips and it saves replacing it with a new name. But it does make for potential confusion – to the point where even that single LiveScience article uses it differently on the new trees from Nature and Cambridge.
But this is the first time I've ever seen the main dinosaur splits debated, and it makes me wonder if they even were so plain in the first place, or just not really considered. For instance that's sort of how I felt about the idea that annelids belong near molluscs not arthropods. There was a lot of investigation and debate before it was generally accepted, but it seems to me that the moment it was proposed segmentation might have developed twice, it made so much sense as they really have little else in common.
I have mixed feelings about redefining Saurischia to exclude most of the traditional saurischians, though. I think I get why, they don't actually all have lizard-like hips and it saves replacing it with a new name. But it does make for potential confusion – to the point where even that single LiveScience article uses it differently on the new trees from Nature and Cambridge.
Re: The Dinosaur Family Tree Has Been Uprooted..
I`m sure what we don`t know could fill a battleship with papers, and what they find over months and years will continue to change in certain areas since ancient times will never be completely understood. What we continue to find makes it more interesting.
Rodney
Rodney
Re: The Dinosaur Family Tree Has Been Uprooted..
It appears that several institutions are not accepting or supporting this "theory" at this time...actinophrys wrote:It's a very interesting result to me! As a rule, a single new cladogram should be taken with a good dose of salt, I'd say especially when it contradicts relationships that seem very well-established. Those very often get overturned or at least left questionable with new data.
But this is the first time I've ever seen the main dinosaur splits debated, and it makes me wonder if they even were so plain in the first place, or just not really considered. For instance that's sort of how I felt about the idea that annelids belong near molluscs not arthropods. There was a lot of investigation and debate before it was generally accepted, but it seems to me that the moment it was proposed segmentation might have developed twice, it made so much sense as they really have little else in common.
I have mixed feelings about redefining Saurischia to exclude most of the traditional saurischians, though. I think I get why, they don't actually all have lizard-like hips and it saves replacing it with a new name. But it does make for potential confusion – to the point where even that single LiveScience article uses it differently on the new trees from Nature and Cambridge.
BillT
- Pierre Lamothe
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Wed Aug 09, 2017 8:12 am
Re: The Dinosaur Family Tree Has Been Uprooted..
I think we just have to wait and see. Those scientists found that theropods grouped with ornithicians rather than with sauropods. Now those guys are waiting for old-school palaeontologists to join the dialogue.
Re: The Dinosaur Family Tree Has Been Uprooted..
Yeah, there's no rushing these things. It's going to be interesting to see what happens.
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