Dinosaur Systematics
Approaches and Perspectives

Dinosaur Systematics presents a current overview of dinosaur systematics, increasing our understanding of dinosaurs as a biological species.

Kenneth Carpenter (Edited by), Philip J. Currie (Edited by)

9780521438100, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 31 July 1992

356 pages
25.4 x 17.8 x 2 cm, 0.648 kg

"...a collection of papers on all aspects of dinosaur reproduction and development for the professional reader and advanced student...this long-awaited book sets out to review and summarize today's knowledge of one of the most exciting areas of dinosaur studies...The work is an essential addition to the dinosaur literature and is the only compact reference work covering reproductive biology." Nature, July, 1994

In recent years dinosaurs have captured the attention of the public at an unprecedented scale. At the heart of this resurgence in popular interest is an increased level of research activity, much of which is innovative in the field of palaeontology. For instance, whereas earlier palaeontological studies emphasized basic morphologic description and taxonomic classification, modern studies attempt to examine the role and nature of dinosaurs as living animals. More than ever before, we understand how these extinct species functioned, behaved, interacted with each other and the environment, and evolved. Nevertheless, these studies rely on certain basic building blocks of knowledge, including facts about dinosaur anatomy and taxonomic relationships. One of the purposes of this volume is to unravel some of the problems surrounding dinosaur systematics and to increase our understanding of dinosaurs as a biological species. Dinosaur Systematics presents a current overview of dinosaur systematics using various examples to explore what is a species in a dinosaur, what separates genders in dinosaurs, what morphological changes occur with maturation of a species, and what morphological variations occur within a species.

List of contributors
Foreword: Charles Mortran Sternberg and the Alberta Dinosaurs L. S. Russell
Preface
1. Introduction: On systematics and morphological variation K. Carpenter and P. J. Currie
Part I. Methods: Clades and grades in ornithischian systematics P. A. Sereno
2. Shape analysis in the study of dinosaur morphology R. E. Chapman
Part II. Sauropodomorpha: Morphometric study of Plateosaurus from Trossingen D. B. Weishampel and R. E. Chapman
3. Species determination in Sauropod Dinosaurs with tentative suggestions for their classification J. S. McIntosh
Part III. Theropods: Variation in theory and in theropods R. E. Molnar
Variation in Coelophysis bauri E. H. Colbert
4. Morphological variation in small theropods and its meaning in systematics: evidence from Syntarsus rhodesiensis of the Early Jurassic M. A. Raath
5. Therapod teeth from the Judith River Formation of southern Alberta, Canada P. J. Currie, J. K. Rigby and R. E. Sloan
6. The systematic position of Baryonyx walkeri A. J. Charig and A. C. Milner
7. Variation in Tyrannosaurus Rex K. Carpenter
Part IV. Footprints: A name for the trace of an act: approaches to the nomenclature and classification of fossil vertebrate footprints W. A. S. Sarjeant
Part V. Summary and Prospectus: P. J. Currie and K. Carpenter.

Subject Areas: Palaeontology [RBX], Evolution [PSAJ]