The Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Creationism (2018)

The final subset dataset of Zanno (2010) contained the rest of the taxa (138 characters, 16 taxa, 0.4 TRC). The BDC results (Fig. 54) show three main blocks of positive correlation: 1) Alvarezsauridae, 2) Ornithomimosauria, and 3) the rest of the taxa. The two alvarezsaurid taxa share no correlation or negative correlation with all other taxa in the subset analysis, and the same is true for the ornithomimosaur block of taxa. The 3D MDS results (Fig. 55) show three obvious clusters separated by gaps in morphological space: 1) Alvarezsauridae, 2) Ornithomimosauria, and 3) the rest of the taxa. Among the ornithomimosaur taxa, Garudimimus and Archaeornithomimus are the farthest away from the others. The remaining taxa have tyrannosaurids on one end, and then a triangle of taxa marked at the corners by Allosaurus , Ornitholestes , and Dilong . 4. Van der Reest and Currie (2017) Results The BDC results (Fig. 56) for the van der Reest and Currie (2017) dataset analysis show three main blocks of positive correlation: 1) Oviraptorosauria, 2) Paraves, and 3) the rest of the taxa. The oviraptorosaur and paravian blocks share positive correlation mainly around the two scansoriopterygid taxa ( Epidendrosaurus (junior synonym of Scansoriopteryx ) and Epidexipteryx ). There are no instances of negative correlation between the oviraptorosaur and paravian blocks. However, there are numerous instances of negative correlation between the oviraptorosaur + paravian blocks and the block containing the rest of the taxa. Shared positive correlation between the oviraptorosaur + paravian blocks and the third block center around the taxa Protarchaeopteryx , Ornitholestes , Dilong , Falcarius , and Pelecanimimus . The 3D MDS results (Fig. 57) show a single large cluster, although three main lobes can be discerned that correlate with the three blocks of positive correlation from the BDC. Pelecanimimus is not clustered with any other taxa in the MDS results. As with the other analyses, we determined to separately analyze subsets of the van der Reest and Currie (2017) dataset for better resolution of patterns of continuity and discontinuity. The subset analysis of the paravian taxa from the van der Reest and Currie (2017) (119 characters, 22 taxa, 0.4 TRC) BDC results (Fig. 58) show four blocks of positive correlation: 1) Scansoriopterygidae, 2) Avialae, 3) Troodontidae, and 4) Dromaeosauridae. There are instances of shared positive correlation between dromaeosaurid and troodontid taxa. In fact, Buitreraptor , an unenlagiine dromaeosaurid, is located in the troodontid block, although it shares positive correlation with some dromaeosaurids ( Velociraptor , Deinonychus , and Bambiraptor ). Anchiornis is in the troodontid block, but it also correlates positively with Microraptor and Sinornithosaurus . There are no instances of shared positive correlation between the avialan or scansoriopterygid blocks and any other taxa. There are some instances of negative correlation between the scansoriopterygids and some troodontid taxa, and there are many instances of negative correlation shared between avialans and troodontids, with only a few between dromaeosaurids and avialans. The 3D MDS results (Fig. 59) show four obvious clusters McLain et al. ◀ Feathered dinosaurs reconsidered ▶ 2018 ICC 490 Figure 34. BDC results for the Pennaraptora subset of the Lee et al. (2014) dataset. Black squares indicate significant positive correlation, whereas open circles indicate significant negative correlation. Figure 35. MDS results for the Pennaraptora subset of the Lee et al. (2014) dataset in two views (A, B). Colors: orange – Dromaeosauridae; yellow – Troodontidae; light green – Avialae; pink – Oviraptorosauria.