Cetiosauriscus
Name:
Cetiosauriscus
(whale-lizard-like).
Phonetic: Set-e-os-sore-is-kuss.
Named By: Friedrich von Huene - 1927.
Synonyms: Ornithopsis leedsi?
Cetiosauriscus leedsi? Cetiosaurus leedsi?.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Sauropoda, Eusauropoda.
Species: C. stewarti (type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Estimated to be about 15 meters long.
Known locations: England.
Time period: Callovian of the Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Partial post cranial skeletal
remains including parts of the limbs, vertebrae and pelvis.
Cetiosauriscus
is often confused with the similarly named Cetiosaurus,
and this is
no accident. The name Cetiosauriscus means
‘whale-lizard-like’,
a reference to Cetiosaurus which itself means
‘whale-lizard’, so
when Friedrich von Huene named the genus in 1927, he was actually
saying that Cetiosauriscus was similar to Cetiosaurus.
When the genus
was first named the type species of Cetiosauriscus
was C. leedsi,
however later studies cast doubt upon the validity of the type fossil
material used to designate this species. In what was a landmark study
for the Cetiosauriscus genus, A. J. Charig
named a new species of
Cetiosauriscus as C. stewarti,
based upon a partial post cranial
skeleton (BMNH R.3078) found near the town of Peterborough.
Noting that other species of Cetiosauriscus,
including the type
species were dubious on the grounds that the remains were fairly
indistinct, Charig successfully petitioned the ICZN (The body that
governs the naming of animals) to make Cetiosauriscus
stewarti the
genoholotype of Cetiosauriscus. What this means
is that from now on
all fossil material submitted to the Cetiosauriscus
genus must now be
compared to the fossils of C. stewarti and not C.
leedsi before
being added as new specimens.
Although
the basis of the name Cetiosauriscus means a
similarity to Cetiosaurus
von Huene himself noted that Cetiosauriscus had
much longer vertebrae
than those attributed to Cetiosaurus. Because of
the length of these
vertebrae, Cetiosauriscus has been identified as a
possible
diplodocid sauropod
dinosaur (similar to Diplodocus)
upon more than
one occasion. The type fossil material of C. stewarti (BMNH
R.3078) has even been reported as possibly containing the whiplash of
the tail that is commonly associated with diplodocid sauropods. If
the interpretation of Cetiosauriscus as a
diplodocid is correct, then
Cetiosauriscus may well represent one of if not the
earliest appearance
of a sauropod dinosaur. However a 2007 paper (Naish &
Martill) cast some doubt upon the diplodocid interpretation,
stating that the vertebrae of Cetiosauriscus are
also similar to those
of the mamenchisaurid sauropods (similar to Mamenchisaurus).
Further reading
- Sichtung der Grundlagen der jetzigen Kenntnis der Sauropoden
[Sorting through the basis of the current knowledge of sauropods].
- Eclogae Geologica Helveticae 20:444-470 - Friedrich von
Huene - 1927.
- A diplodocid sauropod from the Lower Cretaceous of England -
A. J. Charig - In Aspects of Vertebrate History: Essays in
Honor of Edwin Harris Colbert. Flagstaff. - L. L. Jacobs -
Museum of Northern Arizona Press. - 1980.
- Case 2876. Cetiosauriscus von Huene,
1927 (Reptilia,
Sauropodomorpha): designation of C. stewarti Charig, 1980 as
the type species. - Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 50
(4): 282-283. - A. J. Charig - 1993.
- The anatomy and taxonomy of Cetiosaurus
(Saurischia:
Sauropoda) from the Middle Jurassic of England. - Journal of
Vertebrate Paleontology. 23: 208–231. - P. Upchurch
&
J. Martin - 2003.
- Revision of Cetiosauriscus greppini–new results
and perspectives.
- Fifth Meeting of the European Association of Vertebrate
Paleontologists Abstract Volume, Mus�e des Dinosaures, Esp�raza,
France. pp. 57–58. - Daniela Schwarz, Christian Meyer
& Oliver Wings - 2007.
- Dinosaurs of Great Britain and the role of the Geological Society
of London in their discovery: basal Dinosauria and Saurischia. -
Journal of the Geological Society (London). 164: 493–510.
- D. Naish & M. Martill - 2007.
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