Erectopus

Name: Erectopus ‭(‬upright foot‭)‬.
Phonetic: E-rek-to-pus.
Named By: Friedrich von Huene‭ ‬-‭ ‬1923.
Synonyms: Erectopus sauvagei,‭ ‬Megalosaurus superbus.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Saurischia,‭ ‬Theropoda,‭ ‬Carnosauria.
Species: E.‭ ‬superbus‭ (‬type‭)‬.
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Comparison to allosauroid theropods suggest a length of about‭ ‬3‭ ‬meters for the holotype.
Known locations: France.
Time period: Albian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Partial maxilla‭ (‬upper jaw‭) ‬as well as partial post cranial fossils.




       The taxonomic history of Erectopus is a little muddled,‭ ‬but to begin with Erectopus was named as a species of Megalosaurus,‭ ‬M.‭ ‬superbus.‭ ‬This was in‭ ‬1882‭ ‬when Henri-�mile Sauvage added fossil remains to a private collection owned by Louis Pierson that had first been described in‭ ‬1875‭ ‬by Charles‭ ‬Barrois.‭ ‬Then when the fossils were studied by Friedrich von Huene they were concluded to not represent a species of Megalosaurus.‭ ‬The result was that the fossils were named as Erectopus sauvagei,‭ ‬while others were‭ ‘‬Gen.‭ ‬indeterm.‭ ‬superbus‭’‬.
       After the death of Pierson his private fossil collection was broken up with the fossils going to many,‭ ‬and often unrecorded destinations.‭ ‬As a result the genus Erectopus fell into obscurity and feared lost.‭ ‬But then towards the end of the twentieth century the original partial maxilla was found to be with a fossil dealer in Paris,‭ ‬while casts of the original bones were found stored in the National Museum of Natural History,‭ ‬also in Paris.‭ ‬In‭ ‬2005‭ ‬Ronan Allain wrote a new study concerning Erectopus,‭ ‬which resulted in the type species name being established as Erectopus superbus in order to include all of the original fossil material,‭ ‬with the maxilla as lectotype.
       As an actual dinosaur,‭ ‬Erectopus seems to have been similar to the genus Allosaurus,‭ ‬and so Erectopus is regarded as a carnosaur.‭ ‬The holotype of Erectopus however seems to have been towards the smaller end of the scale for a theropod dinosaur,‭ ‬and so was probably a predator of other small dinosaurs.




Further reading
-‭ ‬Les reptiles du terrain Cr�tac� du nord-est du Bassin de Paris.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Bulletin scientifique,‭ ‬historique et litt�raire du Nord,‭ ‬6:‭ ‬1-11.‭ ‬-‭ ‬C.‭ ‬Barrois‭ ‬-‭ ‬1875.
-‭ ‬Notes sur les reptiles fossiles.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Bulletin de la Soci�t� G�ologique de France,‭ ‬4:‭ ‬435-442.‭ ‬-‭ ‬H.‭ ‬-�.‭ ‬Sauvage‭ ‬-‭ ‬1876.
-‭ ‬Recherches sur les reptiles trouv�s dans le Gault de l'est du bassin de Paris.‭ ‬-‭ ‬M�moires de la Soci�t� G�ologique de France,‭ ‬s�rie‭ ‬3‭ ‬2‭(‬4‭)‬:‭ ‬1-42.‭ ‬-‭ ‬H.‭ ‬-�.‭ ‬Sauvage‭ ‬-‭ ‬1882.
-‭ ‬Carnivorous Saurischia in Europe since the Triassic.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Bulletin of the Geological Society of America‭ ‬34:449-458.‭ ‬-‭ ‬F.‭ ‬v.‭ ‬Huene‭ ‬-‭ ‬1923.
-‭ ‬The enigmatic theropod dinosaur Erectopus superbus‭ (‬Sauvage,‭ ‬1882‭) ‬from the Lower Albian of Louppy-le-Ch�teau‭ (‬Meuse,‭ ‬France‭)‬,‭ ‬by Ronan Allain.‭ ‬In The Carnivorous Dinosaurs‭ (‬Indiana University Press‭)‬,‭ ‬K.‭ ‬carpenter eds. - 2005.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Random favourites