• bstix@feddit.dk
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      4 months ago

      No, dinosaurs can’t fly.

      Flying 'saurs are “pterosaurs”

      • NegativeNull@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        Birds originated in the Jurassic, and could (can) fly. Some dinosaurs could fly. Pterosaurs are lizards, who also could fly.

      • Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de
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        4 months ago

        most dinosaurs can fly, since all living dinosaurs are birds and those very famously tend to fly quite a lot.

    • lugal@sopuli.xyz
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      4 months ago

      They are the direct sister group. It’s kind of a definition thing. People defined dinosaurs before pterosaurs were known so they were not included

      • Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de
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        4 months ago

        it’s not really a definition thing as such, “dinosaur” just means anything descended from a specific point on the tree of life.

        • lugal@sopuli.xyz
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          4 months ago

          Yes, dinosaurs are defined as all descents of the last common ancestor of [blank] and [blank].

          I don’t remember what the blanks were but I’m sure they would have included pterosaurs if they knew about them back than

            • lugal@sopuli.xyz
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              4 months ago

              I understand quite well how monophyletic clades work and I hope you understand that they are a human construct. That doesn’t mean they are wrong or bad or something, but the question you are ignoring is: Who decides what the stem dinosaur is and would the decision be the same if they know about pterosaurs? Maybe but maybe not. Now that decision is made and set in stone, there is no going back but “dinosaur” and “ornithodiran” are just words that would be swopped (again, not gonna happen anymore)