Talk:Megapnosaurus

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This article needs references, especially those confirming that Syntarsus was ruled by the ICZN to be a junior synonym of Megapnosaurus, as Syntarsus is still very much in use in the most current and standard texts on theropods (see The Dinosauria, 2005; 2nd ed., for example).--Nar'eth 22:42, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

Syntasus isn't a junior synonym, it's preoccupied by an insect. Megapnosaurus is the replacement name. I'll try to find a cite. Some researchers still use Syntarsus, I think, either because they don'tr know this or because of the possibly unethical way it was renamed (without notifying Raath and using a "joke" name for a very well-known species).Dinoguy2 22:00, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

Oops. Yeah. You're right, of course. Syntarsus is not a junior synonym, it's just frelling preoccupied. I think I must have been preoccupied when I was writing that...--Nar'eth 22:42, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] the name Megapnosaurus

The reason why Michael Ivie and his scientists proposed the replacement name Megapnosaurus for the dinosaur originally named "Syntarsus" was that, to Ivie, Megapnosaurus looked like a big dead lizard, hence the reason for the meaning of this genus. Their attempt to contact Michael Raath was unsuccessful, because Raath retired from the Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research. His old address is no longer valid, and I don't know where he is now working at. If Raath realized that the name he gave to the dinosaur in 1969 was pre-occupied by an insect, he would have given "Syntarsus" an appropriate replacement name: Syntarsosaurus, which means fused ankled lizard.

Unfortunately, barring a speciel intervention by the ICZN or synonymy with Coelophysis, Megapnosaurus is the undisputed official name for this dinosaur. Maybe one day a paleontologist will strike back and get the oportunity to reame Drosophilia, THE go-to insect for genetic research, etc., something that means "who cares" ;) Dinoguy2 01:14, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Cladistic study of Megapnosaurus

Although Tykoski (2005) placed Megapnosaurus rhodesiensis in Coelophysis but found M. kayentakatae to be Segisaurus-related, Bristowe & Raath (2004) synonymized Megapnosaurus with Coelophysis because the characters used to diagnose the two genera were the result of incorrect reconstructions. M. rhodesiensis was named by Raath in 1969, M. kayentakatae by Rowe in 1989. Thus, update this webpage by dividing it into the sections about the taxonomy, lifestyle, habitat, and geography and adding new references concerning Megapnosaurus.

Bristowe, A. & M.A. Raath (2004). "A juvenile coelophysoid skull from the Early Jurassic of Zimbabwe, and the synonymy of Coelophysis and Syntarsus." Palaeont. Afr., 40: 31-41.

Tykoski, R. S. (2005). "Anatomy, Ontogeny, and Phylogeny of Coelophysoid Theropods." Ph. D dissertation. University of Texas at Austin. 553 pp. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 72.194.116.63 (talk) 15:06, 14 February 2007 (UTC).

Actually, I wouldn't mind merging this page with Coelophysis, partly because the whole underhanded sabotage of the name, and Raath's subsequent push to sink these species into Coelophysis. My only concern is that, I think a few refs had placed M. kayentakatae" in its own genus, which could confuse the situation if we merge it before a new genus is named. Dinoguy2 19:49, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

The time to do something is probably getting close; the majority of new references are using C. rhodesiensis, from what I can tell. We can always leave this article for "M." kayentakatae until it gets restudied; something similar is present at Gyposaurus, where the type species is usually thought of as a juvenile Massospondylus, but "G." sinensis gets its own twig in recent cladograms. J. Spencer (talk) 03:36, 4 January 2008 (UTC)