Talk:Mesonychid
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[edit] Order or suborder
I have reverted a recent change on Andrewsarchus mongoliensis where Mesonychia was listed as a suborder of Artiodactyla. There are two competing hypothesis concerning the nearest relatives of Mesonychia. The traditional morphological view suggests that they are related to whales. Under this view either Mesonychia, Cetacea, and Artiodactyla are separate orders, the order Cetacea (or Cete as seen in McKenna and Bell, 1997) includes a suborder Mesonychia, or Mesonychia is a suborder of Cetartiodactyla, an order uniting whales and artiodactyls.
Alternatively, recent molecular and morphological work suggests that whales evolved from within the "artiodactyls" and Mesonychia represents a close relative but a distinct group. Under this view either Mesonychia and Cetartiodactyla are distinct orders, or Mesonychia is the most basal suborder within the Cetartiodactyla. To my knowledge no authorities argue that the mesonychids are more closely related to artiodactyls than to cetaceans.
I think recognizing Mesonychia as a distinct order is consistent with any of these hypotheses for relationships and would be the most appropriate position for us to take. Alternatively, it could be treated as a suborder of Cete (Cetacea) if we accept the old morphological hypothesis, but I don't think that's the mainstream approach since the publication of the molecular findings. --Aranae 21:59, 11 October 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Largest predator
Southern Elephant Seal is said to be the largest land predator, not Kodiak Bear, and the difference is very significant (2045 kg vs 700 kg for average males). On the other hand, seals are not hunting while on land. Proski 21:26, 11 June 2007 (UTC)
- Although seals are capable of moving onto land, they are not considered to be terrestrial carnivores. However, I wonder if Andrewsarchus was as big/heavy as a Southern Elephant Seal...--Mr Fink 21:30, 11 June 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Separation
Ultimately, I think we should make Mesonychidae its own article, rather than just a redirect to this page. Good idea, bad idea?--Mr Fink 12:21, 5 October 2007 (UTC)
[edit] cetaceans
See wp:lead. The lead should summarize the article, which necessitates some redundancy. The lead should also make the reader care and be accessible. That's why I added reference to cetaceans. Leadwind 01:43, 9 October 2007 (UTC)
