 Brian Gardiner (1982) attempted to define Thecodontia within a cladistic framework, thus giving the old name to a new concept.All more recent cladistic studies (e.g., Jacques Gauthier 1986) have confirmed that the traditional Thecodontia is indeed a paraphyletic taxon, the members of which are not united by any shared derived characteristics.As the association of the name with the outdated concept proved to be very strong, it is now considered a historical term only, and its current usage has been abandoned.