Amanzia Temporal range: Late Jurassic, ~ | |
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Skeletal reconstruction, showing known bones in blue | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Clade: | Saurischia |
Clade: | † Sauropodomorpha |
Clade: | † Sauropoda |
Clade: | † Turiasauria |
Genus: | † Amanzia Schwarz et al., 2020 |
Type species | |
†Amanzia greppini (von Huene, 1922) | |
Synonyms | |
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Amanzia (after Swiss geologist Amanz Gressly) is a genus of turiasaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Reuchenette Formation in Moutier, Switzerland. The type and only species is Amanzia greppini, originally named as a species of Ornithopsis and Cetiosauriscus . [1]
The holotype remains were originally discovered in the 1860s, by workers in a limestone quarry in the Basse Montagne. Some of the remains were sold to collectors; when geologist Jean-Baptiste Greppin heard of this situation, he acquired all remaining bones and added them to the collection of the Naturhistorisches Museum Basel . Due to being found in association with the theropod tooth MH 350 found near Moutier that probably belonged to Ceratosaurus or an indeterminate member of the Ceratosauria, they were misidentified as belonging to a predatory dinosaur, for which Greppin in 1870 coined the name " Megalosaurus meriani" (named after Peter Merian). [2] In 1920, Werner Janensch reassigned the tooth to the genus Labrosaurus . However, in 1922, Janensch realized the vertebrae belonged to a sauropod, so he wrote to Friedrich von Huene, who gave them the name Ornithopsis greppini. [3] In 1927, von Huene assigned the species to his new genus Cetiosauriscus . [4] [5] From then on it has received little attention, with the few papers that mention it usually calling it a nomen dubium without further comment. [1]
After its fossils were for the first time cleaned and prepared, in 2003 by Antoine Heitz, it was realized not to be closely related to Cetiosauriscus. [6] In 2005, a master thesis by C. Hofer was dedicated to the subject. [7] In 2007, the rare presence of fossilised cartilage in a limb joint was reported. [8] In 2020, Daniela Schwarz, Philip D. Mannion, Oliver Wings and Christian A. Meyer gave it the genus name Amanzia, after Swiss geologist Amanz Gressly, who was the first to discover dinosaur bones in Switzerland. Amanzia is itself the first sauropod named from Swiss remains. [1]
In 2020, no lectotype was selected, the naming authors maintaining the original syntype series indicated by von Huene, consisting of forty-nine bones. The Reuchenette Formation in which they were found dates from the early Kimmeridgian, about 157 million years old. They include some neck vertebrae, many tail vertebrae and material from the shoulder girdle, the pelvis and limbs. Seventy-five additional sauropod specimens in the collection of the museum, from the same site as the syntypes, were in 2020 referred to the species. These also include some limited skull material and a broken tooth. The bones are not articulated, have generally been strongly compressed and had often been damaged when being forcefully removed from the rock. Von Huene had already concluded that the material represented two or three individuals; in 2020 this was increased to a minimum of four. Of these, individuals "A" and "B" have about the same size, while an individual "C" is 15% longer and an individual "D" 20% shorter. None of the specimens are clearly juvenile. [1]
Megalosaurus is an extinct genus of large carnivorous theropod dinosaurs of the Middle Jurassic Epoch of southern England. Although fossils from other areas have been assigned to the genus, the only certain remains of Megalosaurus come from Oxfordshire and date to the late Middle Jurassic.
Gigantosaurus is a dubious genus of Sauropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay Formation of England. The type species, Gigantosaurus megalonyx, was named and described by Harry Govier Seeley in 1869.
Titanosaurus is a dubious genus of sauropod dinosaurs, first described by Richard Lydekker in 1877. It is known from the Maastrichtian Lameta Formation of India.
Pelorosaurus is a genus of titanosauriform sauropod dinosaur. Remains referred to Pelorosaurus date from the Early Cretaceous period, about 140-125 million years ago, and have been found in England and Portugal. Thomas Holtz estimated its length at 24 meters.
Cetiosaurus meaning 'whale lizard', from the Greek keteios/κήτειος meaning 'sea monster' and sauros/σαυρος meaning 'lizard', is a genus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic Period, living about 168 million years ago in what is now Britain and probably France.
Cetiosauriscus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived between 166 and 164 million years ago during the Callovian in what is now England. A herbivore, Cetiosauriscus had – by sauropod standards – a moderately long tail, and longer forelimbs, making them as long as its hindlimbs. It has been estimated as about 15 m (49 ft) long and between 4 and 10 t in weight.
Giraffatitan is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived during the late Jurassic Period in what is now Lindi Region, Tanzania. Only one species is known, G. brancai, named in honor of German paleontologist Wilhelm von Branca, who was a driving force behind the expedition that discovered it in the Tendaguru Formation. Giraffatitan brancai was originally described by German paleontologist Werner Janensch as a species of the North American sauropod Brachiosaurus from the Morrison Formation, as Brachiosaurus brancai. Recent research shows that the differences between the type species of Brachiosaurus and the Tendaguru material are so large that the African material should be placed in a separate genus.
Janenschia is a large herbivorous sauropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Tendaguru Formation of Lindi Region, Tanzania around 155 million years ago.
Bothriospondylus is a dubious genus of neosauropod sauropod dinosaur. It lived during the Late Jurassic in England, and the type and only species is B. suffossus.
Tornieria is a genus of diplodocid sauropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic in Lindi Region of Tanzania. It has a convoluted taxonomic history.
Laplatasaurus is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous in South America, with the holotype and only known specimen found in the Anacleto Formation.
Ornithopsis is a genus of sauropod dinosaur, from the Early Cretaceous of England and possibly Germany. The type species, which is the only species seen as valid today, is O. hulkei, which is only known from fragmentary remains.
Tendaguria is a genus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of Lindi Region, Tanzania.
Turiasauria is an unranked clade of basal sauropod dinosaurs known from Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous deposits in Europe, North America, and Africa.
Australodocus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived during the Late Jurassic period, around 150 million years ago, in what is now Lindi Region, Tanzania. Though initially considered a diplodocid, recent analyses suggest it may instead be a titanosauriform.
Paleontology or palaeontology is the study of prehistoric life forms on Earth through the examination of plant and animal fossils. This includes the study of body fossils, tracks (ichnites), burrows, cast-off parts, fossilised feces (coprolites), palynomorphs and chemical residues. Because humans have encountered fossils for millennia, paleontology has a long history both before and after becoming formalized as a science. This article records significant discoveries and events related to paleontology that occurred or were published in the year 1922.
The Reuchenette Formation is a Jurassic geologic formation in Switzerland. It is Kimmeridgian in age and predominantly consists of well stratified limestone, with lithology variable both laterally and stratigraphically including wackestones, packstones and grainstones, as well as mudstone. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation, including the Turiasaurian sauropod Amanzia greppini, alongside a theropod tooth belonging to Ceratosauria indet, originally assigned to Megalosaurus meriani. teleosaurid crocodyliformes are also known, including Sericodon, Proexochokefalos and Machimosaurus. The metriorhynchid thalatosuchians Torvoneustes and Dakosaurus. The hybodontid shark Asteracanthus. The thalassochelydian turtle Thalassemys and Solnhofia is known from the formation, as is the platychelyid turtles Platychelys, and the plesiochelyid turtle Plesiochelys.
Kaatedocus is a genus of flagellicaudatan sauropod known from the middle Late Jurassic of northern Wyoming, United States. It is known from well-preserved skull and cervical vertebrae which were collected in the lower part of the Morrison Formation. The type and only species is Kaatedocus siberi, described in 2012 by Emanuel Tschopp and Octávio Mateus.
Wamweracaudia is a large herbivorous sauropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Tendaguru Formation of Tanzania, Africa, 155-145 million years ago.