AVES classification updated

[pierre deleporte]

Thanks Ken for this text of S. Paul.

Interestingly, it states : "Research into stomach contents indicates that 
cladists were considered especially tasty." (he means for those raptors)

But interestingly also : "...the conventional hypothesis that dromaeosaurs 
are preavian nonfliers or protofliers is dead, dead, dead. It is as 
falsified as the now silly notion that birds are not dinosaurs".

Do you rou really like it all, Ken ? So why not definitely forget this 
"silly notion" ? I mean for purposes of "updating classification" of course 
: birds are dinosaurs are reptilia you know... I'm sure you know... If not, 
you can't imagine the easiness with which this notion can be integrated in 
one's mind. Just like whales are mammalia and not big herrings (no more).
Believe me, just try, it doesn't hurt at all...     :-)

best and cheers,
Pierre (atypical, a little bit deaf, hardly edible cladistoid)

 >From: Ken Kinman <kinman at HOTMAIL.COM>
 >Subject:      Strict cladists get "earful" from Gregory Paul
 >To: TAXACOM at USOBI.ORG
X-UIDL: )Ok!!eWL"!=(3"!bE4"!
 >
 >Dear All,
 >  Gregory S. Paul, author of Predatory Dinosaurs of the World (1988) and
 >Dinosaurs of the Air (2002) gave strict cladists quite an "earful" last
 >night in a posting to the Dinosaur Mailing List.  Sounds a bit like some of
 >my own "rants", starting out rather subdued and then working up to some
 >outbursts of frustration towards the end.  But I think that he (like Peter
 >Dodson) is a little bit too pessimistic about cladistic analysis (we just
 >need to learn to use it more wisely and in moderation).
 >  Anyway, I found it to be very interesting reading.  And it clearly
 >demonstrates why I have been so adamant about expanding Class AVES to
 >include dromaeosaurs and several other maniraptoran taxa (I will soon be
 >incorporating several new genera and families from the Czerkas book into my
 >classification of AVES).  Here's a link to Gregory's post for those who wish
 >to read it:
 >
 >http://www.cmnh.org/dinoarch/2002Sep/msg00255.html
 >
 >         --- Cheers,  Ken Kinman
 >
 >
 >A 03:22 16/09/2002 +0000, you wrote :
>Dear All,
>      Two newly described families (by Czerkas et al., 2002, in "Feathered
>Dinosaurs and The Origin of Birds") have been added to my classification:
>Scansoriopterygidae (which probably includes Epidendrosaurus, which I
>obviously still think is closely related to Microraptor, but perhaps even
>closer to Rahonavis); and Omnivoropterygidae (as a basal clade of
>Caenagnathiformes).

(...)

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Pierre Deleporte
CNRS UMR 6552 - Station Biologique de Paimpont
F-35380 Paimpont   FRANCE
Téléphone : 02 99 61 81 66
Télécopie : 02 99 61 81 88