Tag Archives: Linnaean Systematics

Not Up, But Down

Posted on August 27, 2012 by Jaime A. Headden

While I may wail on Linnaean Systematics and the issues with ranks, and the use and potential loss of the concept of the “genus” as an entity separate from that of the species, some authors out there are going at … Continue reading →

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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

Something Is Wrong Here

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Jaime A. Headden

Eugene Gaffney, turtle expert from the American Museum of Natural History & David Krause, mammal expert from the Department of Anatomical Sciences at Stony Brook University, both in New York State, US, have recently described  a new fossil pelomedusoid turtle … Continue reading →

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

Whether Clades Should Have No Name

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Jaime A. Headden

I am posting this here because I don’t want to log down Darren’s blog with my comment, where he has posted his perspective on the new paper, so it’s going here. Valentine Fischer, Michael Maisch, and a host of other … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Science Reporting, Taxonomy | Tagged , , | 16 Comments

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

“Taste” Versus “Science”

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Jaime A. Headden

My recent discussion on the value of “originalism” has led to some interesting comments from respondents Mickey Mortimer and Mike Taylor. As I respect both of them, but disagree, I will post their comments in full below and respond to … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Taxonomy | Tagged , , | 4 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

Horns, Frills, Knobs and Domes – Morphological Ontogeny

Posted on July 30, 2010 by Jaime A. Headden

Recently I’ve been embroiled in a discussion with various professional paleontologists, interested scientists, and lay paleophiles on the topic of the synonymy proposed by Scannella and Horner [1] for the Hell Creek chasmosaurine ceratopsians Triceratops and Torosaurus. I feel it … Continue reading →

Posted in Paleontology, Science Reporting, Taxonomy | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment