Category Archives: Systematics

The Stocky Dragon

Posted on June 18, 2015 by Jaime A. Headden

There is much we still do not know about the ancient origins of birds and near-bird animals, dromaeosaurs and troodontids. As we find more specimens of archaeopterygid or scansoriopterygid-like animals, of Anchiornises and what not, the tree becomes more of … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Paleobiology, Paleontology, Reconstruction, Systematics | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

The Journey of Banguela

Posted on May 4, 2014 by Jaime A. Headden

The life of a pterosaur cannot be easy. Most occur in places where there is always a larger predator; even the giants Quetzalcoatlus and Hatzegopterus may have co-occurred with other predators that would have seen them as food. From hatching … Continue reading →

Posted in Biological Comparison, Paleontology, Science Reporting, Systematics, Taxonomy | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

The Genus Question — Impact of New Archosaurian Binomina

Posted on August 6, 2012 by Jaime A. Headden

So, what exactly would happen if — as I suggested both here and mentioned in the comments here — we went down that slippery slope, and distinguished all species as their own unique, equivalent taxa? How many new “genus”-like names … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Systematics, Taxonomy | Tagged , | 17 Comments

“You Keep Using That Word”

Posted on March 18, 2012 by Jaime A. Headden

Behold another rant on nomenclature, posted on the Dinosaur Mailing List recently. I am slightly modifying it for consumption here.

Posted in Philosophy, Systematics, Taxonomy | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

I Cannot Compel to Reason: Triceratops, We Done It Again

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Jaime A. Headden

Earlier this year, Andy Farke took the opportunity of  a remodel to assess the skull of that classic of classic dinosaurs, Nedoceratops hatcheri. Formally named by Richard Swan Lull (completing a monograph that first OC Marsh had begun but uncompleted … Continue reading →

Posted in Biological Comparison, Paleontology, Philosophy, Science Reporting, Systematics, Taxonomy | Tagged , , , | 13 Comments

New Domes, New Interpretations

Posted on August 26, 2011 by Jaime A. Headden

Thanks to Bob Sullivan, many of his co-authored publications from the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science (NMNHS) Bulletin are now available online (which you can find here). I talked about one of them, naming new oviraptorosaurs Ojoraptorsaurus … Continue reading →

Posted in Paleontology, Science Reporting, Systematics, Taxonomy | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Sabretooths Spread Thick and Thin

Posted on August 19, 2011 by Jaime A. Headden

Some time back (about a year ago, in fact), I wrote about the hypothesis where Heterodontosaurus tucki, a small ornithischian from the Early Jurassic of southern Africa, might actually have been a basal marginocephalian, joining the ranks of blatant look-a-likes … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Paleontology, Philosophy, Reconstruction, Science Reporting, Systematics, Taxonomy | Tagged | 5 Comments

O Crest-less One

Posted on August 9, 2011 by Jaime A. Headden

My brief forays into ornithischians is usually relegated to those heterodont taxa that are basal ornithopods and their ancestors (but not descendant thyreophorans, ceratopsians or pachycephalosaurs) because of the wonderful arrangement and oddity of their teeth. Once you get past … Continue reading →

Posted in Paleontology, Science Reporting, Systematics | Tagged , | 4 Comments

That Was Fun….

Posted on July 29, 2011 by Jaime A. Headden

Apparently my Google-fu is good.

Posted in Paleontology, Philosophy, Systematics, Taxonomy | Tagged | 2 Comments

Systematic Originalism

Posted on March 11, 2011 by Jaime A. Headden

On occasion, systematists feel the need to revise the taxonomy of various species, placing species into new genera, or lumping them in with other species in earlier-named genera. This is generally supported by phylogenetic analyses, but sometimes it involves an … Continue reading →

Posted in Paleontology, Philosophy, Systematics | Tagged , | 10 Comments