The organization of taxon entries is arranged as follows. Not all features are implemented yet, but should be gradually added to the various taxa.
Clade authorship
Etymology- [new as of 2024] If
quoted, comes from the work officially naming the taxon. If the
clade is eponymous, the etymology isn't given as it is merely the
genus' etymology with a suffix.
Official Definition- Phylocode
definition as established in Phylonyms or RegNum after June 8th, 2020.
Definition- preferred phylogenetic definition of clade if not
yet officially defined (original authorship of definition)
Other definitions- alternate phylogenetic definitions of clade
= Synonymous clade authorship
Definition- preferred definition of synonymous clade
Other definitions- alternate phylogenetic definitions of synonymous
clade
Diagnosis- apomorphy; apomorphy. These are infrequently
provided since they vary so much based on the phylogenetic analysis
used, change often with the discovery of new taxa, and are often
ambiguous depending on ACCTRAN versus DELTRAN optimization.
Comments- Features to be eventually included in all entries are-
general history of study; history of classification with discussion of
reasons for referring it to different clades; list of specimens
incorrectly referred to the taxon by other authors; discussion of
synonymous taxa; discussion of proposed phylogenetic definitions. These
are often broken into their own sections.
References- Chronological list of pertinent references.
Genus authorship
= Synonymous genus authorship
pr= Probably synonymous genus authorship
po= Possibly synonymous genus authorship
G. species authorship
= Synonymous species authorship
pr= Probably synonymous species authorship
po= Possibly synonymous species authorship
Etymology- [new as of 2024] If
quoted, comes from the work officially naming the taxon.
Stage, Period
Formation, State/Province, Country
Holotype- (holotype specimen number; nickname; = previous
specimen number(s) of holotype) (total length; mass; ontogenetic stage)
known element (length of element)
Paratype- (paratype specimen number which by definition are
specimens noted in the original description)
Referred- (referred specimen number)
....(referred specimen number belonging to same individual as above)
(referred specimen number of different individual)
?(questionably referred specimen number)
Diagnosis- apomorphy; apomorphy.
Other diagnoses- Discussion of apomorphies suggested by other
authors which I do not accept as valid. Each is only discussed once,
under the author who first proposed it.
Comments- Features to be eventually included in all entries are-
date of first discovery; rationale for length and mass estimates;
rationale for ontogenetic assignments; general history of study;
history of classification with discussion of reasons for referring it
to different clades; list of specimens incorrectly referred to the
taxon by other authors; discussion of synonymous taxa; discussion of
proposed phylogenetic definitions. These are often broken into their
own sections.
References- Chronological list of pertinent references.
Other notes-
Nomina
dubia (taxa which cannot be distinguished from two or more valid
taxa) are not distinguished, except in the description or comments,
because they are subjective and may be found to be valid after further
work.
Nomina nuda (taxa which are not valid due breaking one or more
articles of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature [ICZN])
are distinguished by quotation marks and non-italicized print. This
website is not an organ for formal taxonomic purposes, and thus any
details contained about nomina nuda do not in any way serve to
validate them.
Misspellings are not noted, unless pertaining to a nomen nudum
(which have no official spelling).
Names that only appear in dissertations are not used out of respect for
the author unless the taxon has been subsequently named in the ICZN
acceptable literature.
For a preoccupied name (that was already in use for another animal),
the original author and date that preoccupy the name in question are
given after said name, author and date, as in "Laelaps Cope,
1866 (preoccupied Koch, 1835)".
For an emmended name (that was formed incorrectly so had to be changed
in accordance with the ICZN), the emmending author and date are given
after the original name's author and date, as in "Utahraptor
ostrommaysorum Kirkland, Gaston and Burge, 1993 emmend. Olshevsky,
2000".
Some names were attributed to authors other than those who are credited
for the paper, and in this case the term vide is used. For instance,
Chure and McIntosh (1989) were the first to publish the name
"Daptosaurus" that they credited to Brown (who came up with it decades
earlier). Thus the notation is ""Daptosaurus" Brown vide Chure and
McIntosh, 1989".
For unnamed specimens, "unnamed" refers to a specimen described in the
literature, while "undescribed" refers to a specimen merely mentioned
in passing in the literature. Either of these may be followed by a
clade name (eg. Theropoda) or an informal version of that name (eg.
theropod). "Undescribed theropod" would refer to a single taxon,
whereas "undescribed Theropoda" refers to multiple possibly
non-conspecific specimens.
The authorship of unnamed specimens is somewhat subjective, but is
generally the first author to mention the specimen, or the author of
the most detailed and/or recent description of the specimen.
As of 2024, the side of bilateral elements is given where known, and
more measurements are given if an element is too incomplete to be
measured the standard way. These are gievn with abbreviations to
show where the measurement is based (e.g. prox = proximally, dist =
distally, dorsovent = dorsoventrally, trans = transversely, anteropost
= anteroposteriorly...).
Clade definitions are modified to be congruent with the Phylocode, but are
abbreviated as follows-
(Alpha <- Beta) = "the clade consisting of Alpha and all organisms
or species that share a more recent common ancestor with Alpha than
with Beta".
(Alpha + Beta) = "the clade stemming from the most recent common
ancestor of Alpha and Beta".
(apomorphy as in Alpha) = "The clade stemming from the first ancestor
of Alpha to exhibit the noted apomorphy homologous to the condition in
Alpha".
Modifying published definitions to be congruent with Phylocode almost
always implies a supraspecific specifier was changed to a species
specifier, so (Allosauridae <- Aves) might be changed to (Allosaurus
fragilis <- Passer domesticus). This is usually an
objective practice, as the eponymous genus and its type species are
used. The exception is when the specifier was originally Avialae or a
subgroup (Ornithurae, Aves, Neornithes, etc.), where no eponym exists
and both Passer domesticus and Vultur gryphus have been
suggested as avian specifiers. I've used Passer domesticus (as
it is the eponym of the largest avian clade) except in cases where Vultur
gryphus was originally used in the definition (generally by
Gauthier and Clarke; since it was the first avian species listed by
Linnaeus).
No definitions were official until June 8, 2020, and I've been somewhat
subjective while choosing which unofficial ones to use. I follow
priority, but also ensure definitions use type species of eponymous
genera which were part of the clade when it was originally conceived.
Occasionally, no acceptable definition has been published, and in these
cases a suggested definition is supplied.
I also indicate where clades would go IF they had the definitions which
I don't use. In this case, the clade name is not bolded and it is
listed as "sensu" the author of that particular definition.
Undefined family-level clade names are subjectively synonymized with
defined or valid clade names of the same Linnaean rank.
Other undefined eponymous clade names are placed directly above their
genus, as they provisionally have the same content.
Some data is referenced to abbreviated sources. These are-
DML- The Dinosaur Mailing List, whose archives can be read here - http://dml.reptilis.net/#gsc.tab=0.
AMNH online- The online
specimen catalog of the American Museum of
Natural History.
Dinosaur Fund online- online
specimen catalog of the National and Historical Resources Division
Archaeology Program.
MOR online- The online
specimen catalog of the Museum
of the Rockies.
NMMNH online- The online
specimen catalog of the New
Mexico Museum of Natural History.
OMNH online- The online
specimen catalog of the Sam
Noble Museum Oklahoma's Museum of Natural History.
TMP online- The online
specimen catalog of the Royal
Tyrell Museum.
UCMP online- The online specimen
catalog of the University
of California Museum of Paleontology.
USNM online- The online specimen
catalog of the Smithsonian
National Museum of Natural History.
YPM online- The online
specimen catalog of the Peabody
Museum of Natural History.
ZPAL online - The online
specimen catalog of the Institute
of Paleobiology Polish Academy of Sciences.