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THE UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Eric Snively A ... - Ohio University

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This and other systernatically infomed hypotheses are testable by mapping<br />

characters ont0 a well-supported phylogeny of theropods, and determining<br />

temporal polarization of charaders through parsimony. The distribution of the<br />

arctometatarsus on a phylogeny, for instance, allows us to predict the occurrence<br />

of associated features, including intwmetatarsal ligaments and an elongate<br />

metapodium. Additionally, phylogenetic testing can illuminate the evolution of<br />

selective utility of the arctometatarsus: What selecüon pressures led to the<br />

fixation of the arctometatarsus when it arose? The following discussion therefore<br />

details pathways of possible evolutionary emergence of the arctometatarsus, in<br />

the hopes of testing hypotheses of origin and utility.<br />

Implications of phylogenefic disfribution of the arcfornetatarsus<br />

The presence or absence of an arctometatarsus, and intermetatarsal ligament<br />

correlates, serve as character states that can be mapped ont0 two competing but<br />

wellcorroborated theropod phylogenies (Cume and Padian 1997 and Holtz<br />

2000; Sereno 1999). The phytogenies summarize the relationships of taxa<br />

bearing an arctometatarsus, and reveal aie distribution of intermetatarsal<br />

ligaments, the arctometatarsus, and trophic habit in coelurosaurs and their sister<br />

taxa.<br />

The taxa in these phylogenies primarily include those investigated in the<br />

Principal Components Analysis in Chapter 2. Inclusion of a taon in Figure 2.16<br />

designates it as arctometatarsafian; the Cretaceous Mongolian bird Mononychus<br />

(Chiappe 1997). which was unavailable for examination, is also scored as such<br />

(Holtr 1994b. Sereno 1999). The sauropodomorph Plateosaurus serves as the

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