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Palaeontology: major revision of dinosaur taxonomy shakes clade to core

Albedo

Albedo

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Science Daily: New study shakes the roots of the dinosaur family tree
For 130 years palaeontologists have been working with a classification system in which dinosaur species have been placed in to two distinct categories: Ornithischia and Saurischia. But now, after careful analysis of dozens of fossil skeletons and tens of thousands of anatomical characters, the researchers have concluded that these long-accepted familial groupings may, in fact, be wrong and that the traditional names need to be completely altered.
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This is pretty major. It would be like discovering that the division of mammals into placentals, marsupials and monotremes was all completely wrong, and we belonged in the same group as the monotremes, with the marsupials as outsiders.
 
Friendly Frog

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Gaah! My books have become dated! Again! (I haven't forgotten you yet, Mr. triton genus)

*is tet zoo fan*
 
Roxxsmom

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Fascinating. This means that my colleague who teaches a dinosaur biology class will be busy this summer. It will, at least, be less confusing for students now. They no longer have to be puzzled over why the group that includes birds evolved from "lizard hipped" dinosaurs, because it appears that they didn't after all.
 
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