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Camptosaurus

Marsh, 1885 KAMP-tuh-SOR-uhs /ˌkæmptəˈsɔːrəs/

From Greek kamptos (καμπτος) meaning 'bent/flexible' and Greek sauros (σαυρος) meaning 'lizard'. Full meaning: 'flexible lizard'.

161.5–149.2 million years ago Oxfordian–Kimmeridgian, Late Jurassic
Late Jurassic stages

Camptosaurus is an extinct genus of plant-eating, beaked ornithischian dinosaurs of the Late Jurassic period of western North America and possibly also Europe. The name means 'flexible lizard' (Greek καμπτος (kamptos) meaning 'bent' and σαυρος (sauros) meaning 'lizard').

Diagnosis

  1. Cervical vertebrae all opisthocoelous, unlike Laosaurus
  2. Pubis broad and thin in front of acetabulum, directed well forward
  3. Sacral vertebrae unfused, not from immaturity
  4. Ischium expanded distally with extensive surface for union with fellow
  5. Femur longer than tibia

Species

Camptosaurus dispar Marsh, 1885

Type species

From Latin 'dispar' meaning 'unlike' or 'unequal'; the reason for the choice is unclear.

Holotype
YPM 1877 , Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History
Material
Cervical vertebrae (9 elements, 565mm united length), femur, tibia, fibula, foot elements with distinct astragalus and calcaneum
Horizon
Salt Wash Member, Morrison Formation, Oxfordian–Kimmeridgian, Late Jurassic , 161.5–149.2 million years ago
Locality
Quarry 13, Como Bluff, Wyoming, United States McDonald (2011) places "material from Como Bluff Quarry 13 in the Upper Jurassic Salt Wash Member of the Morrison Formation". Carpenter and Wilson (2008) date the quarry "latest Oxfordian-earliest Kimmeridgian".

Synonyms of the genus

Name Type Reason
Brachyrophus junior subjective Material is now widely recognized as indistinguishable from Camptosaurus.
Camptonotus preoccupied Name preoccupied by Camptonotus (Orthoptera).
Symphyrophus junior subjective Material is now generally considered indistinguishable from Camptosaurus.

References

  1. Carpenter, K.; Wilson, Y. (2008). A new species of Camptosaurus (Ornithopoda: Dinosauria) from the Morrison Formation (Upper Jurassic) of Dinosaur National Monument, Utah, and a biomechanical analysis of its forelimb. Annals of Carnegie Museum 76(4): 227-263. Carnegie Museum of Natural History. doi:10.2992/0097-4463(2008)76[227:ANSOCO]2.0.CO;2

    Dates Quarry 13 "latest Oxfordian-earliest Kimmeridgian" from regional correlations with dated horizons.

    carpenter2008a
  2. Marsh, O. C. (1879). Notice of new Jurassic reptiles. American Journal of Science s3-18(108): 501-505. American Journal of Science (AJS). doi:10.2475/ajs.s3-18.108.501 marsh1879a
  3. Marsh, O. C. (1885). Names of extinct reptiles. American Journal of Science 29: 169. marsh1885a
  4. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Ornithischians. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the hip height estimate.

    jones2026a
  5. McDonald, A. T. (2011). The taxonomy of species assigned to Camptosaurus (Dinosauria: Ornithopoda). Zootaxa 2783(1). Magnolia Press. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.2783.1.4

    Places the Quarry 13 material in the Salt Wash Member of the Morrison Formation.

    mcdonald2011a