Camarasaurus grandis

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Camarasaurus grandis
Temporal range: Late Jurassic, 153–148  Ma
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Camarasaurus grandis skull at Dinosaur Journey Museum.jpg
Cast of a Camarasaurus grandis skull at the Dinosaur Journey Museum.
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade:† Sauropodomorpha
Clade:† Sauropoda
Clade:† Macronaria
Family:† Camarasauridae
Genus:† Camarasaurus
Species:
†C. grandis
Binomial name
†Camarasaurus grandis
(Marsh, 1877)
Synonyms
  • Amphicoelias latus?
    Cope, 1877
  • Apatosaurus grandis
    Marsh, 1877
  • Morosaurus grandis
    (Marsh, 1877) Marsh, 1878
  • Morosaurus impar
    Marsh, 1878
  • Morosaurus robustus
    Marsh, 1878
  • Pleurocoelus montanus
    Marsh, 1896
  • Camarasaurus impar
    (Marsh, 1878) Gilmore, 1925
  • Camarasaurus robustus
    (Marsh, 1878) Gilmore, 1925
  • Cathetosaurus lewisi ?
    Jensen, 1988
  • Camarasaurus lewisi?
    (Jensen, 1988) McIntosh, 1990

Camarasaurus grandis is an extinct species of sauropod dinosaur in the genus that lived during the Jurassic in what is now the western United States. It is the geologically oldest of the four species of the genus Camarasaurus .

Contents

Taxonomy

Camarasaurus grandis was named by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1877. It is one of four valid species of Camarasaurus , alongside Camarasaurus lentus , Camarasaurus lewisi , and Camarasaurus supremus . [1] The type specimen of Camarasaurus grandis is the holotype YPM 1901, a partial skeleton of an immature individual from Como Bluff, Wyoming. [1]

Camarasaurus grandis is regarded as having three junior synonyms: Morosaurus impar, Morosaurus robustus, and Pleurocoelus montanus. [2] [3] [1] One of these junior synonyms, M. impar, is the type species of Morosaurus, the genus to which C. grandis and C. lentus were assigned until it was synonymized with Camarasaurus. [4] Amphicoelias latus, which is conventionally regarded as a synonym of C. supremus, may also be synonymous with C. grandis, based on where its type specimen was found. [5] C. grandis's contemporary, C. lewisi, may also be synonymous with Camarasaurus grandis. [1] The holotype of C. lentus may be a specimen of C. grandis, rather than the species conventionally known as C. lentus. [1]

There are numerous specimens of Camarasaurus grandis, and the majority of the skeleton is known. [1] [6]

Description

Camarasaurus grandis was a moderately-sized member of its genus, similar in size to C. lentus but smaller than C. supremus. Gregory S. Paul estimated its length as 14 metres (46 ft) and mass as 13 tonnes, [6] whereas John Foster estimated its length as 15 metres (49 ft) and mass as 12.6 tonnes for an average-sized individual, with large individuals reaching over 16.5 tonnes. [7]

The anterior dorsal vertebrae of Camarasaurus grandis are one of the most distinctive parts of the skeleton. The vertebrae are much taller than in C. lentus and C. supremus. [1] The vertebrae are also unusual in the position of the connections between the neural arch and centrum, known as the neurocentral synostoses. [8] In most reptiles, including Camarasaurus lentus, the neurocentral synostoses lie at the level of the ventral margin of the neural arch. [9] [7] In contrast, in C. grandis, the neurocentral synostoses are elevated above the level of the neural canal, [7] with raised pedicels on the centrum separating the neural arch from the articular faces of the centrum. [10] The centrum can completely surround the canal, resulting in a neural arch that does not actually form an arch over the neural canal. [9] This characteristic is only visible in juveniles. [7]

C. grandis differs from C. lentus in having T-shaped expansions of its anterior caudal neural spines. [1]

History of study

Forelimb of Camarasaurus grandis mounted at the Field Museum in 1901. Annual report of the Director to the Board of Trustees for the year ... (1901) (17809522604).jpg
Forelimb of Camarasaurus grandis mounted at the Field Museum in 1901.

In 1877 during the Yale Peabody Museum’s expedition to Como Bluff, William Harlow Reed and several other field workers for Othniel Charles Marsh collected a basioccipital and partial postcranial skeleton. Camarasaurus grandis was named by Marsh in 1877 on the specimen (YPM 1901). He initially considered it a species of Apatosaurus. [11] The next year, Marsh named another new species, Morosaurus impar, [12] and shortly thereafter reclassified Apatosaurus grandis as Morosaurus grandis and named a third species, Morosaurus robustus. [13] The type specimens of M. impar and M. robustus could be from the same individual as YPM 1901. Additional material of C. lentus would be collected between 1877 and 1879 by YPM crews, including some skull material. In 1896, Marsh named another species of Sauropod from Como Bluff, Pleurocoelus montanus, based on a fragmentary postcranial skeleton of a juvenile from. The species was later synonymized with C. grandis. All of the material found at Como Bluff came from the Kimmeridgian of the Morrison Formation.

During the Second Dinosaur Rush in 1900, crews of the Field Museum of Natural History collected several appendicular and axial elements, including a nearly complete forelimb, near Fruita, Colorado. The C. grandis material from Fruita led to new reconstructions of Sauropod manus and pes structure. In 1898, Samuel Wendell Williston regarded M. impar as synonymous with M. grandis. [14] In 1901, Elmer Riggs recognized that Morosaurus was a junior synonym of Camarasaurus . [4] C. robustus was suggested to be synonymous with C. grandis in 1930 by Richard S. Lull. [15] In 1958, Theodore E. White synonymized C. grandis with C. supremus. [16] This proposed synonymy has not been upheld by subsequent study.

A specimen of Camarasaurus grandis was excavated in New Mexico in 1978, and was one of the first partial skeletons from the Morrison Formation to be excavated in the state. [17] It was initially reported as a specimen of C. cf. supremus in 1982, but reinterpreted as C. grandis in 2005. [1]

A relatively complete skeleton of Camarasaurus grandis, GMNH-PV 101, was described in 1996. [18] However, an unpublished study by Emanuel Tschopp and colleagues presented at the 2014 meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology suggested that this specimen may have closer affinities to Camarasaurus lewisi, which they argued represented a distinct genus, Cathetosaurus. [19]

Paleoecology

Camarasaurus grandis lived during the Kimmeridgian age of the Jurassic in what is now Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. [1] It is one of the more common species of Camarasaurus, with 9.1% of known Camarasaurus specimens identified as C. grandis (the majority of specimens cannot be identified as belonging to any particular species). [20]

A specimen of C. grandis [1] from New Mexico showed signs of having been fed on by Allosaurus. [17]

Camarasaurus grandis is the geologically oldest species of Camarasaurus, and may be ancestral to the later species of the genus. [6]

Related Research Articles

<i>Apatosaurus</i> Sauropod dinosaur genus from Late Jurassic period

Apatosaurus is a genus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Jurassic period. Othniel Charles Marsh described and named the first-known species, A. ajax, in 1877, and a second species, A. louisae, was discovered and named by William H. Holland in 1916. Apatosaurus lived about 152 to 151 million years ago (mya), during the late Kimmeridgian to early Tithonian age, and are now known from fossils in the Morrison Formation of modern-day Colorado, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Wyoming, and Utah in the United States. Apatosaurus had an average length of 21–23 m (69–75 ft), and an average mass of 16.4–22.4 t. A few specimens indicate a maximum length of 11–30% greater than average and a mass of approximately 33 t.

<i>Camarasaurus</i> Camarasaurid sauropod dinosaur genus from Late Jurassic Period

Camarasaurus was a genus of quadrupedal, herbivorous dinosaurs and is the most common North American sauropod fossil. Its fossil remains have been found in the Morrison Formation, dating to the Late Jurassic epoch, between 155 and 145 million years ago.

<i>Barosaurus</i> Diplodocid sauropod dinosaur genus from Upper Jurassic Period

Barosaurus was a giant, long-tailed, long-necked, plant-eating sauropod dinosaur closely related to the more familiar Diplodocus. Remains have been found in the Morrison Formation from the Upper Jurassic Period of Utah and South Dakota. It is present in stratigraphic zones 2–5.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Como Bluff</span> United States historic place

Como Bluff is a long ridge extending east–west, located between the towns of Rock River and Medicine Bow, Wyoming. The ridge is an anticline, formed as a result of compressional geological folding. Three geological formations, the Sundance, the Morrison, and the Cloverly Formations, containing fossil remains from the Late Jurassic of the Mesozoic Era are exposed.

Haplocanthosaurus is a genus of intermediate sauropod dinosaur. Two species, H. delfsi and H. priscus, are known from incomplete fossil skeletons. It lived during the late Jurassic period, 155 to 152 million years ago. The type species is H. priscus, and the referred species H. delfsi was discovered by a young college student named Edwin Delfs in Colorado, United States. Haplocanthosaurus specimens have been found in the very lowest layer of the Morrison Formation, along with Hesperosaurus mjosi, Brontosaurus yahnahpin, and Allosaurus jimmadseni.

<i>Brontosaurus</i> Genus of diplodocid sauropod dinosaur

Brontosaurus is a genus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaur that lived in present-day United States during the Late Jurassic period. It was described by American paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh in 1879, the type species being dubbed B. excelsus, based on a partial skeleton lacking a skull found in Como Bluff, Wyoming. In subsequent years, two more species of Brontosaurus were named: B. parvus in 1902 and B. yahnahpin in 1994. Brontosaurus lived about 156 to 146 million years ago (mya) during the Kimmeridgian and Tithonian ages in the Morrison Formation of what is now Utah and Wyoming. For decades, the animal was thought to have been a taxonomic synonym of its close relative Apatosaurus, but a 2015 study by Emmanuel Tschopp and colleagues found it to be distinct. It has seen widespread representation in popular culture, being the archetypal "long-necked" dinosaur in general media.

<i>Atlantosaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Atlantosaurus is a dubious genus of sauropod dinosaur. It contains a single species, Atlantosaurus montanus, from the upper Morrison Formation of Colorado, United States. Atlantosaurus was the first sauropod to be described during the infamous 19th century Bone Wars, during which scientific methodology suffered in favor of pursuit of academic acclaim.

<i>Camarasaurus lewisi</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Camarasaurus lewisi is a species of sauropod dinosaur from the Upper Jurassic of the United States. It was named by James A. Jensen in 1988. C. lewisi was originally placed in its own genus, Cathetosaurus, but in 1996 it was reclassified as a species of Camarasaurus; most researchers since have considered it to be one of the four valid species of Camarasaurus. Two unpublished studies have since argued that the genus Cathetosaurus should be reinstated, whereas two other studies have argued that C. lewisi may be a junior synonym of another species of Camarasaurus.

<i>Nanosaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Nanosaurus is the name given to a genus of neornithischian dinosaur that lived about 155 to 148 million years ago, during the Late Jurassic-age. Its fossils are known from the Morrison Formation of the south-western United States. The type and only species, Nanosaurus agilis, was described and named by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1877. The taxon has a complicated taxonomic history, largely the work of Marsh and Peter M. Galton, involving the genera Laosaurus, Hallopus, Drinker, Othnielia, and Othnielosaurus, the latter three now being considered to be synonyms of Nanosaurus. It had historically been classified as a hypsilophodont or fabrosaur, types of generalized small bipedal herbivore, but more recent research has abandoned these groupings as paraphyletic and Nanosaurus is today considered a basal member of Neornithischia.

Lourinhasaurus was an herbivorous sauropod dinosaur genus dating from Late Jurassic strata of Estremadura, Portugal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camarasauridae</span> Extinct family of dinosaurs

Camarasauridae is a family of sauropod dinosaurs. Among sauropods, camarasaurids are small to medium-sized, with relatively short necks. They are visually identifiable by a short skull with large nares, and broad, spatulate teeth filling a thick jaw. Based on cervical vertebrae and cervical rib biomechanics, camarasaurids most likely moved their necks in a vertical, rather than horizontal, sweeping motion, in contrast to most diplodocids.

<i>Camarasaurus supremus</i> Species of sauropod dinosaur

Camarasaurus supremus is a species of sauropod dinosaur that lived during the Jurassic period in what is now the western United States. It is the type species of Camarasaurus, which also includes the species Camarasaurus grandis, Camarasaurus lentus, and Camarasaurus lewisi. C. supremus was discovered by the paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope in 1877, at the outset of the Bone Wars, a period of scientific competition between Cope and his rival Othniel Marsh. C. supremus is the largest and geologically youngest species in its genus, and was contemporary with several other exceptionally large dinosaurs, such as Saurophaganax and Maraapunisaurus. Despite being the first discovered species of Camarasaurus, C. supremus is relatively rare and poorly known.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apatosaurinae</span> Extinct subfamily of dinosaurs

Apatosaurinae is a subfamily of diplodocid sauropods, an extinct group of large, quadrupedal dinosaurs, the other subfamily in Diplodocidae being Diplodocinae. Apatosaurines are distinguished by their more robust, stocky builds and shorter necks proportionally to the rest of their bodies. Several fairly complete specimens are known, giving a comprehensive view of apatosaurine anatomy.

<i>Camarasaurus lentus</i> Species of sauropod

Camarasaurus lentus is an extinct species of sauropod dinosaur that lived during the Jurassic period in what is now the western United States. It is one of the four valid species of the well-known genus Camarasaurus. C. lentus fossils have been found in Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah. It is the species of Camarasaurus found in Dinosaur National Monument and the middle layers of the Morrison Formation. Camarasaurus lentus is among the best-known sauropod species, with many specimens known. A juvenile specimen of C. lentus, CM 11338, is the most complete sauropod fossil ever discovered.

<i>Amphicoelias</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Amphicoelias is a genus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaur that lived approximately 150 million years ago during the Tithonian of what is now Colorado, United States. Amphicoelias was moderately sized at about 18 metres (59 ft) in length and 15 metric tons in body mass, shorter than its close relative Diplodocus. Its hindlimbs were very long and thin, and its forelimbs were proportionally longer than in relatives.

<i>Diplodocus</i> Genus of diplodocid sauropod dinosaurs (fossil)

Diplodocus was a genus of diplodocid sauropod dinosaurs, whose fossils were first discovered in 1877 by S. W. Williston. The generic name, coined by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1878, is a Neo-Latin term derived from Greek διπλός (diplos) "double" and δοκός (dokos) "beam", in reference to the double-beamed chevron bones located in the underside of the tail, which were then considered unique.

<i>Brachiosaurus</i> Sauropod dinosaur genus from the late Jurassic Period

Brachiosaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Jurassic, about 154 to 150 million years ago. It was first described by American paleontologist Elmer S. Riggs in 1903 from fossils found in the Colorado River valley in western Colorado, United States. Riggs named the dinosaur Brachiosaurus altithorax; the generic name is Greek for "arm lizard", in reference to its proportionately long arms, and the specific name means "deep chest". Brachiosaurus is estimated to have been between 18 and 22 meters long; body mass estimates of the subadult holotype specimen range from 28.3 to 46.9 metric tons. It had a disproportionately long neck, small skull, and large overall size, all of which are typical for sauropods. Atypically, Brachiosaurus had longer forelimbs than hindlimbs, which resulted in a steeply inclined trunk, and a proportionally shorter tail.

<i>Mierasaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Mierasaurus is an extinct genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Utah, United States. The taxon was first described and named in 2017 by Rafael Royo-Torres and colleagues, from a mostly complete skeleton including a disarticulated partial skull and mandible, teeth, multiple vertebrae from along the length of the body, both scapulae, radius and ulna bones, a left manus, a complete pelvis, both femora and the entire left hindlimb. Additionally, they referred a lower jaw and femur from juvenile individuals, which were found nearby, to the genus. Collectively, Mierasaurus is among the most completely known North American sauropods. The genus name honours Bernardo de Miera y Pacheco, the first European scientist to enter what is now Utah. The type species for Mierasaurus is Mierasaurus bobyoungi, named after Robert Glen Young, a paleontologist who researched the Early Cretaceous of Utah.

<i>Smitanosaurus</i> Extinct genus of sauropod dinosaurs

Smitanosaurus is a genus of dicraeosaurid sauropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of Colorado. The genus contains one species, S. agilis, originally assigned to the defunct genus Morosaurus.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Ikejiri, T. (2005). "Distribution and biochronology of Camarasaurus (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Jurassic Morrison Formation of the Rocky Mountain Region". New Mexico Geological Society Field Conference Guidebook, Geology of the Chama Basin. Vol. 56. pp. 367–379.
  2. ↑ McIntosh, J. S. (1990). "Sauropoda". In Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; Osmólska, Halszka (eds.). The Dinosauria (1 ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 345–401.
  3. ↑ Upchurch, Paul; Barrett, Paul M.; Dodson, Peter (2004). "Sauropoda". In Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; Osmólska, Halszka (eds.). The Dinosauria (2 ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 259–322. ISBN   0-520-24209-2.
  4. 1 2 Riggs, E. S. (1901). "The fore leg and pectoral girdle of Morosaurus": 275–281.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. ↑ Carpenter, K. (1998). "Vertebrate biostratigraphy of the Morrison Formation near Cañon City, Colorado". Modern Geology. 23: 407–426.
  6. 1 2 3 Paul, G. S. (2016). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs (2nd ed.). Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press. ISBN   978-0-691-16766-4.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Foster, J. R. (2020). Jurassic West: the dinosaurs of the Morrison Formation and their world. Life of the past (2nd ed.). Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. ISBN   978-0-253-05158-5.
  8. ↑ Wedel, Matt (2012-04-09). "Neural spine bifurcation in sauropods, Part 2: why serial position matters". Sauropod Vertebra Picture of the Week.
  9. 1 2 Wedel, Matt (2017-05-31). "Sauropod neural canals are weird, part 1: when the neural arch, um, isn't one". Sauropod Vertebra Picture of the Week.
  10. ↑ Marsh, O. C. (1889). "Notice of new American Dinosauria". American Journal of Science. 37 (220): 331–336. Bibcode:1889AmJS...37..331M. doi:10.2475/ajs.s3-37.220.331. S2CID   131729220.
  11. ↑ Marsh, Othniel Charles (1877). "Notice of new dinosaurian reptiles from the Jurassic Formation". American Journal of Science. s3-14 (84): 514–516. Bibcode:1877AmJS...14..514M. doi:10.2475/ajs.s3-14.84.514. S2CID   130488291 . Retrieved 2017-03-11.
  12. ↑ Marsh, O. C. (1878). "Notice of new dinosaurian reptiles". American Journal of Science. 15 (87): 241–244.
  13. ↑ Marsh, O. C. (1878). "Principal characters of American Jurassic dinosaurs". American Journal of Science. 3. 16: 411–416.
  14. ↑ Williston, S. W. (1898). "The sacrum of Morosaurus". Kansas University Quarterly. 7 (3): 173–175.
  15. ↑ Lull, Richard S. (1930). "Skeleton of Camarasaurus lentus recently mounted at Yale". American Journal of Science. 14 (109): 1–5. Bibcode:1930AmJS...19....1L. doi:10.2475/ajs.s5-19.109.1.
  16. ↑ White, Theodore E. (1958). "The braincase of Camarasaurus lentus (Marsh)". Journal of Paleontology. 32 (3): 477–494. JSTOR   1300674.
  17. 1 2 Rigby, J. K. (1982). "Camarasaurus cf. supremus from the Morrison Formation near San Ysidro, New Mexico—the San Ysidro dinosaur": 271–272.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  18. ↑ McIntosh, John S.; Miles, Clifford A.; Cloward, Karen C.; Parker, Jeffrie R. (1996-12-24). "A new nearly complete skeleton of Camarasaurus". Bulletin of Gunma Museum of Natural History. 1: 1–87. ISSN   1342-4092.
  19. ↑ Tschopp, E.; Mateus, O.; Kosma, R.; Sander, P. M.; Joger, U.; Wings, O. W. M. (2014). "A specimen-level cladistic analysis of Camarasaurus (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) and a revision of camarasaurid taxonomy" (PDF). Meeting Program and Abstracts. 74th Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. Berlin. p. 241.
  20. ↑ Woodruff, D. Cary; Foster, John R. (2017-05-31). "The first specimen of Camarasaurus (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) from Montana: The northernmost occurrence of the genus". PLOS ONE. 12 (5): e0177423. Bibcode:2017PLoSO..1277423W. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0177423 . ISSN   1932-6203. PMC   5451207 . PMID   28562606.
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