Open Paleo

Ornithopsis

Seeley, 1870 or-ni-THOP-sis

From Greek 'ornis' (bird) and 'opsis' (likeness or appearance); meaning 'bird-likeness'.

125.8–121.4 million years ago Barremian, Early Cretaceous
Early Cretaceous stages

Ornithopsis is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of England and possibly Germany. The type species, which is the only species seen as valid today, is O. hulkei, which is only known from fragmentary remains.

Diagnosis

  1. Enormous pneumatic foramina 3-4 inches long, approximating pterodactyl size rather than avian
  2. Vertically ovate posterior articular surface, well cupped and concave in lateral view
  3. Lateral compression of centrum with anterior enlargement, avian in character
  4. Opisthocoelous centrum with dense external bone film of paper-thin thickness
  5. Honeycomb-like internal air-cells of irregular polygonal form throughout centrum
  6. Thin and compact films of bone dividing air-cells extending toward articular ends

Species

Ornithopsis hulkei Seeley, 1870

Type species

Named for John Whitaker Hulke, the colleague of Harry Govier Seeley who first described the vertebrae.

Lectotype
NHMUK PV 28632 , Natural History Museum
Material
A dorsal vertebral centrum from the Wealden of the Isle of Wight.
Horizon
Wessex Formation, Barremian, Early Cretaceous , 125.8–121.4 million years ago
Locality
Brook, Isle of Wight, United Kingdom

Synonyms

  • Bothriospondylus magnus junior objective

    Owen (1874) coined Bothriospondylus magnus on the subjects of Plates VIII and IX of that work, which Owen identified as among the specimens (Plates VII-IX) Seeley (1870) had previously used to erect Ornithopsis hulkei. Blows (1995) treats NHMUK PV 28632 as the lectotype of O. hulkei from that same syntype series, making B. magnus a junior objective synonym based on the shared physical specimen.

References

  1. Seeley, H. G. (1870). XXXI.-On Ornithopsis, a gigantic animal of the Pterodactyle kind from the Wealden. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 5(28): 279-283. Informa UK Limited. doi:10.1080/00222937008696155 seeley1870a
  2. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Sauropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the mass and hip height estimates.

    jones2026b
  3. Owen, R. (1874). A monograph on the British fossil reptilia of the Mesozoic formations. Palaeontographical Society. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.100403

    Coined Bothriospondylus magnus, later linked to Ornithopsis.

    owen1874a
  4. Hulke, J. W. (1879). Note (3rd) on (Eucamerotus, Hulke) Ornithopsis, H. G. Seeley, = Bothrospondylus magnus, Owen, = Chondrosteosaurus magnus, Owen. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society 35(1-4): 752-762. doi:10.1144/GSL.JGS.1879.035.01-04.55

    Regards No. 28632 as the type of Ornithopsis.

    hulke1879a
  5. Blows, W. T. (1995). The Early Cretaceous brachiosaurid dinosaurs Ornithopsis and Eucamerotus from the Isle of Wight, England. Palaeontology 38(1): 187-197.

    Treats NHMUK PV 28632 as the lectotype and excludes the Sussex vertebra NHMUK PV R 2239 from the syntype series.

    blows1995a