| | |
Summary: TRENDS in Ecology & Evolution Vol.17 No.7 July 2002
http://tree.trends.com 0169-5347/02/$ see front matter © 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
305News&Comment
Dinosaurs have a widespread, almost
universal appeal. Yet, in spite of the attention
thattheyattract,nocomprehensivephylogeny
forthegroupexists.Muchofthiscanbetraced
to the fragmentary nature of fossil material,
leading to a high proportion of missing
information and difficulties in drawing
homologies, especially between specialized
structures. `Jurassic Park' notwithstanding,
DNA information for dinosaurs is unknown
and likely to remain so. As a result of these
difficulties, estimates of dinosaur phylogeny
tend to be as fragmentary (both in size and
taxonomiccoverage)asthedataonwhichthey
are based. Moreover, many of these estimates
are based on subjective, nonrigorous
interpretations of the data. It comes as little
|
