Pelorosaurus
Pelorosaurus conybeari is the name given to a few sauropod dinosaur bones from the Lower Cretaceous period, about 138–112 million years ago.
| Pelorosaurus Temporal range: Lower Cretaceous
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| Genus: | Pelorosaurus
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Bones of Pelorosaurus have been found in England and Portugal. It was a Brachiosaur, with front legs that were longer than its hind legs.
The name has been challenged, and has been the subject of long-lasting dispute. Some palaeontologists prefer the name Cetiosaurus brevis.[1][2][3]
The taxonomic status of Pelorosaurus is as a result very problematic. Technically, Cetiosaurus brevis is its type species. The position of Pelorosaurus is further undermined by the fact that several researchers hold that the genus is a nomen dubium ('doubtful name').
Pelorosaurus was one of the first dinosaurs described, and the naming procedures were not so well-developed at the time. Its life-style is assumed to be similar to other brachiosaurs, eating from the higher branches of tall conifer trees.
Pelorosaurus Media
BMNH R28633, one of nine caudal vertebrae in 1853 referred by Owen to P. conybeari
The caudal sauropod vertebrae that form the type specimen of C. brevis
Dorsal vertebra assigned to Cetiosaurus brevis
Recreation of Pelorosaurus brevis
References
- ↑ Mantell G.A. 1850. On the Pelorosaurus: an undescribed gigantic terrestrial reptile, whose remains are associated with those of the Iguanodon and other saurians in the strata of Tilgate Forest, in Sussex. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, 140: 379-390.
- ↑ Taylor M.P. and Naish D. 2007. An unusual new neosauropod dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous Hastings Beds Group of East Sussex, England. Palaeontology, 50(6): 1547-1564. doi: 10.1111/j.1475-4983.2007.00728.x
- ↑ Upchurch, Paul; Martin, John; Taylor, Michael P. (2009). "Case 3472: Cetiosaurus Owen, 1841 (Dinosauria, Sauropoda): proposed conservation of usage by designation of Cetiosaurus oxoniensis Phillips, 1871 as the type species" (PDF). Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature. 66 (1): 51–55. doi:10.21805/bzn.v66i1.a6. S2CID 81928676.