Open Paleo

Camelotia

Galton, 1985 kam-e-LOH-tee-a

Named after Camelot, the legendary castle and court of King Arthur, referring to the discovery location in southwest England (near the supposed location of Camelot); overall meaning 'from Camelot'.

205.7–201.4 million years ago Rhaetian, Late Triassic
Late Triassic stages

Camelotia is a large-bodied sauropodomorph from the latest Triassic (Rhaetian) of southwest England. It is best known from a partial postcranial skeleton found in the Westbury Formation and named by Peter M. Galton in 1985. Subsequent work has generally placed Camelotia as a relatively derived sauropodomorph close to the origin of Sauropoda, although its exact position among early non-sauropod sauropodomorphs remains debated. It is sometimes placed in Melanorosauridae as a close relative of Melanorosaurus. With a body length and mass estimated at 8-10 meters (26-33 ft) and 3.8 tonnes (8,400 lb), respectively, it is one of the largest sauropodomorphs known from the Triassic.

Under dispute

Galton (1985) referred Camelotia borealis to Melanorosauridae, a family later analyses do not recover. Recent analyses place it among sauropodiforms near the origin of Sauropoda, but not consistently: Barrett and colleagues (2024) recover it either as sister to Melanorosaurus or to Lessemsauridae, and Pol and colleagues (2011), McPhee and colleagues (2014) and Rauhut and colleagues (2020) find it unstable, a result Pol and colleagues trace to missing data. It is placed at Sauropodiformes incertae sedis.

Diagnosis

  1. Height exceeds length for centra of the posterior dorsal and anterior caudal vertebrae
  2. Lesser trochanter extends close to proximal end of femur
  3. Proximal end of tibia only slightly expanded anteroposteriorly relative to the shaft

Species

Camelotia borealis Galton, 1985

Type species

From Latin 'borealis' meaning 'northern', as Camelotia was the only melanorosaurid from the northern hemisphere known at the time of its description.

Holotype
NHMUK PV R 2870, NHMUK PV R 2871, NHMUK PV R 2872, NHMUK PV R 2873, NHMUK PV R 2874, NHMUK PV R 2876, NHMUK PV R 2877, NHMUK PV R 2878 , Natural History Museum
Material
4 Dorsal vertebrae, 5 caudal vertebrae; fragments of rib, hemal arch, pubis and ischium; right femur and proximal end of tibia; 2 phalanges of pes
Horizon
Westbury Formation, Rhaetian, Late Triassic , 205.7–201.4 million years ago
Locality
Wedmore Hill, Somerset, United Kingdom

References

  1. Galton, P. M. (1985). Notes on the Melanorosauridae, a family of large Prosauropod Dinosaurs (Saurischia: Sauropodomorpha). Geobios 18(5): 671-676. Elsevier BV. doi:10.1016/s0016-6995(85)80065-6 galton1985a
  2. Pol, D.; Garrido, A.; Cerda, I. A. (2011). A New Sauropodomorph Dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of Patagonia and the Origin and Evolution of the Sauropod-type Sacrum. PLoS ONE 6(1): e14572. Public Library of Science (PLoS). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0014572

    Finds Camelotia unstable in its analysis and traces the instability to missing data rather than character conflict.

    pol2011b
  3. McPhee, B. W.; Yates, A. M.; Choiniere, J. N.; Abdala, F. (2014). The complete anatomy and phylogenetic relationships of Antetonitrus ingenipes (Sauropodiformes, Dinosauria): implications for the origins of Sauropoda. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 171(1): 151-205. doi:10.1111/zoj.12127

    Finds the position of Camelotia wildly unstable.

    mcphee2014a
  4. Rauhut, O. W. M.; Holwerda, F. M.; Furrer, H. (2020). A derived sauropodiform dinosaur and other sauropodomorph material from the Late Triassic of Canton Schaffhausen, Switzerland. Swiss Journal of Geosciences 113(1). Pensoft Publishers. doi:10.1186/s00015-020-00360-8

    Calls Camelotia probably a basal sauropodiform and prunes it, with Blikanasaurus, to resolve the base of Sauropodiformes.

    rauhut2020a
  5. Barrett, P. M.; Choiniere, J. N. (2024). Melanorosaurus readi Haughton, 1924 (Dinosauria, Sauropodomorpha) from the Late Triassic of South Africa: osteology and designation of a lectotype. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 44(1): e2337802. Informa UK Limited. doi:10.1080/02724634.2024.2337802

    Recovers Camelotia either as sister to the Melanorosaurus lectotype or as sister to Lessemsauridae.

    barrett2024b