Camptosaurus
| Camptosaurus | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Reconstruction of Camptosaurus |
||||||||||||
| Temporal occurrence | ||||||||||||
| Upper Jurassic ( Kimmeridgian to early Tithonian ) | ||||||||||||
| 157.3 to 147.7 million years | ||||||||||||
| Locations | ||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Camptosauridae | ||||||||||||
| Marsh, 1885 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Camptosaurus | ||||||||||||
| ( Marsh , 1879) | ||||||||||||
| species | ||||||||||||
|
Camptosaurus ("lizard with flexible back") is a genus of the bird basin dinosaur (Ornithischia) from the group of Iguanodontia . The different species lived in the Upper Jurassic ( Kimmeridgian to early Tithonian ) of Europe and North America. Camptosaurus reached a body length of up to seven meters and a weight of 1700 kilograms. Type species is C. dispar .
description
The herbivore had a long, broad skull that tapered into a horny beak. In addition to jagged teeth, there was also a long tongue with which he could have pulled small twigs into his mouth. Erected on his hind legs, he would also have had the opportunity to reach high leaves and twigs and hold them with his strong front feet.
Since Camptosaurus also had small hooves on its fingers, it can be assumed that it also moved four-legged ( quadruped ) for a short time . The dinosaur's thighs were slightly curved, reinforcing its massive hind legs and allowing it to flee at high speed in case of danger.
Naming
The genus was described in 1879 by Othniel Charles Marsh (1831-1899) as Camptonotus ( Greek : kamptos - "bendable, flexible"; sauros "lizard"). He chose this name because he falsely diagnosed that the sacral vertebrae of the pelvis were not fused into a stable unit, as is usual with dinosaurs. He changed the genus name in 1885, as this was already assigned to a genus of long-feeler terrors .
Paleobiogeography
Camptosaurus is a fairly well-known genus of dinosaurs, which includes four species, because of its many finds at various ages. Three come from the North American Morrison Formation in the USA (states Colorado, Oklahoma, Utah, Wyoming); C. pretswichii , found near Oxford , is the only unequivocal evidence of the genus outside of North America and supports the theory of a land bridge between this continent and Europe during the Upper Jurassic .
Individual evidence
- ^ Gregory S. Paul : The Princeton Field Guide To Dinosaurs. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ u. a. 2010, ISBN 978-0-691-13720-9 , pp. 284–285, online ( memento of the original of July 13, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
- ^ A b Thomas R. Holtz, Jr .: Dinosaurs. The most complete, up-to-date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of all Ages. Random House, New York NY 2007, ISBN 978-0-375-82419-7 , p. 407.
- ↑ Ben Creisler: Dinosauria Translation and Pronunciation Guide C. Archived from the original on November 11, 2011 ; accessed on March 1, 2013 .
- ↑ "Camptosaurus," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2008 ( Memento from March 15, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) Status: June 8, 2008
- ^ Othniel C. Marsh : Names of extinct reptiles. In: American Journal of Science. Vol. 129 = Series 3, Vol. 29, No. 170, 1885, ISSN 0002-9599 , p. 169, digitized .
