RE: Gauthier and de Queiroz's Classification of Birds

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

T. Mike Keesey wrote:
 
>Yes -- _Avifilopluma_ seems so vague as to be useless to me. As they
>note, it could be anything from a subclade of _Maniraptora_ to a
near->synonym of _Tetanurae_. I'd rather just say "filoplumed theropods" or
>something rather than erect a whole taxon for it....

"'Feathers' refers to hollow-based, filamentous, epidermal appendages 
produced by follicles."  Those hairy pterosaurs may throw a spanner in the
works.  Not to mention the tail of that psittacosaur specimen.  (And do the
'parafeathers' of _Longisquama_ count? ;-)  )

>They do this as a way of giving _Aves_ as is it used by some researchers
>a new name. (Although I don't really see too many researchers using it
>that way....)

Nor I.  I'm still confused.


George Olshevsky wrote:

>I use the name Ornithes for this clade. Better than "Panaves" (which >might
be a good name for an airline) and there's a small chance it has >already
been published somewhere. 

Don't know about Panaves.  But Ornithes has been published elsewhere, and
the priority is pretty impressive: Aristophanes c.414 BC.

;-)


Tim



------------------------------------------------------------ 

Timothy J. Williams 

USDA-ARS Researcher 
Agronomy Hall 
Iowa State University 
Ames IA 50014 

Phone: 515 294 9233 
Fax:   515 294 3163