Cetiosaurus
| Cetiosaurus | ||||||||||||
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Live reconstruction of Cetiosaurus oxoniensis |
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| Temporal occurrence | ||||||||||||
| Middle Jurassic ( Bajocian to Bathonian ) | ||||||||||||
| 170.3 to 166.1 million years | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Cetiosaurus | ||||||||||||
| Owen , 1841 | ||||||||||||
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Cetiosaurus ("whale lizard") is a genus of sauropod dinosaurs within the Cetiosauridae . The fossil remains of this earlysauropod, which is originalin many features and isat the base of the Eusauropoda , were found in rocks from the Central Jurassic period ( Bajocium to Bathonium ) in many places in England and Morocco ( Beni-Mellal ). The type species of the genus is C. oxoniensis .
description
Like all sauropods, Cetiosaurus ate plants. The length of the three species assigned to the genus - C. medius , C. oxoniensis and C. mogrebiensis - varied between 16 and 18 meters and their estimated weight was between 15 and 20 tons, according to other data up to 27 tons. The construction of the vertebral bones was unique within the sauropods. The lateral articular processes of the extraordinarily massive vertebral bodies, which served as the base for the back muscles, were small and short and not large and elongated as in later sauropods. In addition, the hollowing of the vertebrae characteristic of the later forms is missing. The hind legs were massive to support the high body weight. The forelegs were also stronger compared to other early sauropods, such as the closely related Patagosaurus and Shunosaurus .
Find history
Cetiosaurus was the earliest sauropod found and one of the first dinosaurs to be found. In the 1830s, possibly as early as 1809, his bones were found in England and examined by the most respected scientists of their time, Richard Owen , William Buckland and Georges Cuvier . Cuvier, the greatest authority on zoology of the time, believed the bones were those of a whale , since the vertebrae have a rough surface similar to those of these marine mammals. Owen later said, however, that it was a streamlined animal that moved with a long tail like a crocodile in the water. Due to the reptile characteristics , he described the genus in 1841, one year before he set up the taxon "dinosaur", under the name that is still valid today. It was not until 1869 that Thomas Henry Huxley realized from an almost complete Oxfordshire skeleton that this animal was a dinosaur. After this find, Cetiosaurus was considered the largest land animal that had ever lived for some time.
literature
- David E. Fastovsky , David B. Weishampel : The Evolution and Extinction of the Dinosaurs. 2nd edition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 2005, ISBN 0-521-81172-4 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Dougal Dixon : The World Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs & Prehistoric Creatures. Lorenz Books, London 2008, ISBN 978-0-7548-1730-7 , p. 188.
- ↑ The Paleobiology Database ("Basic info") Status: 24. August 2005
Web links
- Paul Upchurch & John Martin: The Rutland Cetiosaurus: the anatomy and relationships of a Middle Jurassic British sauropod dinosaur . doi : 10.1111 / 1475-4983.00275