Clade | |
Subclade |
Taxon | |
Taxon |
Spinosauroidea
|
Nominal Author | Stromer 1915 |
2nd Nominal Author | Olshevsky 1995 |
Taxon Status | ACTIVE |
Comments | Spinosauroidea was first used by Olshevsky (1995) in a commentary that pointed out its priority over Torvosauroidea, as a coordinate family-group taxon named initially by Stromer (1915). Torvosauroidea, coined by Jensen 1985, was used to for spinosaurids plus torvosaurids by Sereno et al. (1994). Spinosauroidea is the taxon of preference, ven though it had not been used until Olshevsky’s publication. Sereno (1998) provided the first definition for Spinosauroidea, a node-based definition that anchored a node-stem triplet with its two main subgroups, Spinosauridae and Torvosauridae. Padian et al. (1999) hesitated to use either taxon for fear that the phylogenetic relationships of included and potentially related taxa were too poorly understood. Spinosaurids and some torvosaurids, nevertheless, are known from very complete skeletal material and their molnophyly is as substantial as many other clades. Recently, Holtz et al. (2004:95) proposed a stem-based definition for this clade, but it is not clear that this was intentional, as they gave no reasons for doing so and did not cite the original node-based definition. If an additional stem-based clade is warranted because of future accummulation of stem taxa, the taxon Spinosauria could be properly named and defined (currently used informally on internet compilations). The active phylogenetic definition is a first-order revision of the definition in Sereno (1998) and incorporates two negative taxon qualifiers (Allosaurus fragilis, Passer domesticus) that stabilize taxonomic content. Should its two subgroups prove to have more distant phylogenetic relationships, the name Spinosauroidea would then be inapplicable. |
Potential Synonomy | Torvosauroidea |
Active Phylogenetic Definition | |
Active Definition |
The least inclusive clade containing Spinosaurus aegyptiacus Stromer 1915 and Torvosaurus tanneri Galton and Jensen 1979 but excluding Allosaurus fragilis Marsh 1877, Passer domesticus (Linnaeus 1758).
|
Shorthand |
< Spinosaurus aegyptiacus and Torvosaurus tanneri — Allosaurus fragilis and Passer domesticus. |
Definitional Author |
Sereno 2005 |
Definition Status | checked |
Definition Type | NODE |
Node-Stem Triplet | NODE |
Other Triplet Taxa |
Spinosauridae, Torvosauridae |
Specifiers | |
Specifier(s) A |
Spinosaurus aegyptiacus |
Specifier(s) B |
Torvosaurus tanneri |
Specifier(s) C | |
Qualifiers | |
+Taxon | |
-Taxon |
Allosaurus fragilis, Passer domesticus |
Datum | |
Taxonomic Content | |
Publication Year |
Unknown Unknown Unknown 1998 |
Inactive Taxon Status | |
Rejection Criteria | |
Critique | |
Definitional History #1 | |
Earliest Record | Spinosaurus, Torvosaurus, their most recent common ancestor and all descendants. |
Latest Record | Sereno 1998:64 |
Range (My) | |
Range (My) |
Spinosaurus, Torvosaurus |
Range (My) |
Definitional History #2 | |
Earliest Record | Spinosaurus aegyptiacus and all taxa sharing a more recent common ancestor with it than with Passer domesticus. |
Latest Record | Holtz et al. 2004:95 |
Range (My) | |
Range (My) |
Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, Passer domesticus |
Range (My) |
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Definitional History #9 | |
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Definitional History #10 | |
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