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Bothriospondylus

Owen, 1874 BOTH-ree-o-SPON-di-lus Nomen dubium

From Greek bothrion ("trench" or "pit") and spondylos ("vertebra"); meaning "trench vertebra", referring to the deep lateral excavations (pleurocoels) of the vertebral centra.

154.8–149.2 million years ago Kimmeridgian, Late Jurassic
Late Jurassic stages

Bothriospondylus is a dubious genus of possibly neosauropodan sauropod dinosaur. It lived during the Late Jurassic in England and the type (and only) species is B. suffossus.

Under dispute

Bothriospondylus is a nomen dubium. Its type species, B. suffossus, is based on non-diagnostic dorsal vertebrae that cannot be identified beyond Neosauropoda, and the genus became a wastebasket to which many unrelated species were referred and later reassigned (Mannion, 2010). It is placed conservatively at Neosauropoda incertae sedis.

Species

Bothriospondylus suffossus Owen, 1874 Nomen dubium

Type species

Latin suffossus ("undermined"), referring to the lateral pleurocoels hollowing out the centrum.

Syntypes
NHMUK PV R 44589, NHMUK PV R 44590, NHMUK PV R 44591, NHMUK PV R 44592, NHMUK PV R 44593, NHMUK PV R 44594, NHMUK PV R 44595 , Natural History Museum
Material
Four dorsal and three sacral vertebral centra from the Kimmeridge Clay of Swindon.
Horizon
Kimmeridge Clay Formation, Kimmeridgian, Late Jurassic , 154.8–149.2 million years ago
Locality
Swindon Brick and Tile Company's Works, Wiltshire, United Kingdom

References

  1. Owen, R. (1874). A monograph on the British fossil reptilia of the Mesozoic formations. Palaeontographical Society. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.100403

    Erects Bothriospondylus suffossus on dorsal vertebrae from the Kimmeridge Clay of Swindon; same monograph names B. robustus (later Marmarospondylus), B. elongatus, and B. magnus.

    owen1874a
  2. Mannion, P. D. (2010). A revision of the sauropod dinosaur genus 'Bothriospondylus' with a redescription of the type material of the Middle Jurassic form 'B. madagascariensis'. Palaeontology 53(2): 277-296. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2009.00919.x

    Treats B. suffossus as a nomen dubium that cannot be identified beyond Neosauropoda, rendering the genus itself invalid; the deep-foramina diagnostic feature is widespread among sauropods.

    mannion2010a
  3. Molina-Pérez, R.; Larramendi, A. (2020). Dinosaur Facts and Figures: The Sauropods and Other Sauropodomorphs. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the body length and mass estimates.

    molina-pérez2020a