Amanzia Temporal range: Late Jurassic, ~ | |
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Skeletal reconstruction, showing known bones in blue | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Clade: | Saurischia |
Clade: | † Sauropodomorpha |
Clade: | † Sauropoda |
Clade: | † Turiasauria |
Genus: | † Amanzia Schwarz et al., 2020 |
Type species | |
†Amanzia greppini Schwarz et al., 2020 | |
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]
Saltasaurus is a genus of saltasaurid dinosaur of the Late Cretaceous period of Argentina. Small among sauropods, though still heavy by the standards of modern creatures, Saltasaurus was characterized by a short neck and stubby limbs. It was the first genus of sauropod known to possess armour of bony plates embedded in its skin. Such small bony plates, called osteoderms, have since been found on other titanosaurians.
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. Its syntype series consists of several separately discovered sauropod bones found in Cambridgeshire, including two caudal (tail) vertebrae, the distal end of a tibia, a cast of the right radius, a cast of phalanx and an osteoderm. It was synonymised to Ornithopsis humerocristatus by Richard Lydekker in 1888 and to Pelorosaurus by Friedrich von Huene in 1909. Today it is considered a nomen dubium.
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.
Argyrosaurus is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur that lived about 70 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous Period of what is now Argentina.
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 Europe.
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.
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.
Tornieria is a genus of diplodocid sauropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic in Lindi Region of Tanzania. It has a convoluted taxonomic history.
Eucamerotus was a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Barremian-age Lower Cretaceous Wessex Formation (Wealden) of the Isle of Wight, England.
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 was a medium-sized Early Cretaceous sauropod dinosaur, from England. The type species, which is the only species seen as valid today, is O. hulkei.
Tendaguria is a genus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of Lindi Region, Tanzania.
Dystrophaeus is the name given to an extinct genus of eusauropod dinosaur from the early Kimmeridgian stage of the Late Jurassic that existed around 154.8 Ma. Its fossils were found in the Tidwell Member of the Morrison Formation of Utah. It was a relatively medium-sized sauropod, reaching 13 m (43 ft) in length and 7–12 metric tons in body mass.
Neuquensaurus is a genus of saltasaurid sauropod dinosaur that lived in the Late Cretaceous, about 80 million years ago in Argentina and Uruguay in South America. Its fossils were recovered from outcrops of the Anacleto Formation around Cinco Saltos, near the Neuquén river from which its name is derived.
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 thalassochelydian turtle Solnhofia is known from the formation, as is the platychelyid turtle Platychelys.
Kaatedocus is a genus of diplodocine 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.