MANIAC

From EvoWiki

MANIAC (or Maniraptorans Are Not In Actuality Coelurosaurs) is a derisive acronym due to Mickey Mortimer and first used in a posting on the Dinosaur Mailing List on 28th July 2003. It describes a position recently taken up by a number of high-profile advocates of the "thecodont" origin of birds, holding that all maniraptorans, or at the very least, dromaeosaurids, are actually flightless birds derived from Triassic "avimorph" archosaurs. It is similar to Greg Paul's theory of maniraptoran neoflightlessness, but while Paul firmly accepts the placement of Maniraptora within Coelurosauria, MANIACs believe the similarities are due to convergence.

While the notion that some dinosaurs are more derived than Archaeopteryx has had a long history, the idea that they could be both more derived and not dinosaurs at all seems to have originated with Larry Martin in 1983. He suggested that, in some cases, it may be wise to "remove [certain] "dinosaur[s]" from the Theropoda and place it in the avian/crocodilian group." While the idea didn't take off at the time, MANIAC has seen a resurgence in ABSRD circles following the recent discovery of multiple, unambigously feathered maniraptorans. Martin has now fully endorsed it, and Feduccia (2002), though cautious in his approach, appears to have done the same.

Reference: http://dml.cmnh.org/2003Jul/msg00462.html