RE: Correction to RE: Syntarsus says farewell...

["Williams, Tim" <TiJaWi@agron.iastate.edu>]

Tom Holtz wrote:

>P.S. I still wish that the new name still had some clear link to
>Syntarsus (Eusyntarsus, Syntarsosaurus, etc.) 

Or retained a clear link to Mike Raath... perhaps "Raathraptor" or
"Raathisaurus" could be the new name for the Arizona species,
_Syntarsus_...errr _Megapnosaurus kayentakatae_?   :-)

Stephan Pickering wrote:

>What should be discussed are the interrelationships of these early
>theropods, their ecomorphologies, etc., reproductive strategies, >brooding
behaviour, etc., viz. their lives. 

Okay, I'll start the ball rolling on a discussion of the reproductive
strategies and brooding behaviour of early theropods.  All we have for
Triassic Thereopoda are fossilized bones and footprints from long-dead
animals (as denoted by the name "Megapnosaurus").  No feathers; no specimens
squatting in situ on nests; no skeletons preserved _coitus interruptus_ in
cloacal apposition; no eggs preserved inside oviducts; no DNA (that I know
of, anyway).  How you can infer *anything* about reproduction and brooding
behaviour in Triassic theropods is way beyond my comprehension.  Please set
me straight.  Your turn.



Tim