Pelorosaurus
From Greek pelor ("monster") and sauros ("lizard"); meaning "monstrous lizard". Mantell explicitly chose the name to indicate the enormous magnitude of the humerus Mantell described.
Pelorosaurus is a genus of titanosauriform sauropod dinosaur. Remains referred to Pelorosaurus date from the Early Cretaceous period, about 140-125 million years ago, and have been found in England. Thomas Holtz estimated its length at 24 m (79 ft). The name Pelorosaurus was one of the first to be given to any sauropod. Many species have been assigned to the genus historically, but most are currently considered to belong to other genera. The type species is Pelorosaurus brevis (Owen, 1842); the long-used name P. conybeari (Mantell, 1850) is a junior objective synonym based on the same Cuckfield type material.
Species
Pelorosaurus brevis (Owen, 1842) Nomen dubium
Type species
First named as Cetiosaurus brevis
From Latin 'brevis' meaning 'short'.
- Syntypes
- NHMUK PV R 2544, NHMUK PV R 2545, NHMUK PV R 2546, NHMUK PV R 2547, NHMUK PV R 2548, NHMUK PV R 2549, NHMUK PV R 2550 , Natural History Museum
- Material
- Four proximal caudal vertebrae (R2544-R2547) and three chevrons (R2548-R2550) from Cuckfield; the Isle of Wight material originally included by Owen was subsequently shown to be iguanodontian and removed.
- Horizon
- Grinstead Clay Formation, Valanginian, Early Cretaceous , 137.1–132.6 million years ago
- Locality
- Tilgate Forest, West Sussex, United Kingdom
Synonyms
-
Pelorosaurus conybeari junior objective
Melville (1849) coined 'Cetiosaurus' conybeari for the Cuckfield sauropod component of 'C.' brevis, but this was inadmissible as brevis remained available for the same type material; Mantell's Pelorosaurus conybeari (1850), which referred the associated humerus, is therefore a junior objective synonym of the senior 'C.' brevis, which has priority.
Synonyms of the genus
| Name | Type | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Colossosaurus | nomen nudum | Mantell intended to use the name "Colossosaurus" in November 1849 for the Cetiosaurus brevis material, but on discovering that Greek 'kolossos' meant 'statue' rather than 'giant' changed the name to Pelorosaurus before formal publication. The replacement Pelorosaurus appeared in Mantell (1850); Colossosaurus was never validly published. |
Notable specimens
-
NHMUK PV 28626
Natural History Museum historic
A large right humerus (~54 inches) from Cuckfield; Mantell (1850) made it the basis of the new genus Pelorosaurus, one of the first sauropods recognized. A referred specimen, not the name-bearing type; lacking autapomorphies, it is referred to Titanosauriformes incertae sedis.
References
-
Mantell, G. A. (1850). On the Pelorosaurus: an undescribed gigantic terrestrial reptile, whose remains are associated with those of the Iguanodon and other Saurians, in the strata of Tilgate Forest, in Sussex. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 140: 379-390. doi:10.1098/rstl.1850.0017
Erects Pelorosaurus on a large humerus from Tilgate Forest (read 14 Feb 1850); tentatively refers caudals from Owen's Cetiosaurus brevis material to the new genus.
mantell1850a -
Owen, R. (1842). Report on British fossil reptiles, Part II. Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science 11: 60-204.
Erects Cetiosaurus brevis on dorsal and caudal vertebrae from the Wealden of Tilgate Forest and Cuckfield; interpreted as a gigantic marine reptile, not a dinosaur.
owen1842a -
Melville, A. G. (1849). Notes on the vertebral column of Iguanodon. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 139: 285-300. doi:10.1098/rstl.1849.0015
Restricts Owen's C. brevis to four anterior caudal vertebrae, removes the iguanodont elements, and renames the sauropod material Cetiosaurus conybeari.
melville1849a -
Taylor, M. P.; Naish, D. (2007). An unusual new neosauropod dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous Hastings Beds Group of East Sussex, England. Palaeontology 50(6): 1547-1564. Wiley. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2007.00728.x
Treats P. conybeari and C. brevis as objective synonyms with C. brevis having priority; flags an intended ICZN petition to suppress C. brevis and conserve P. conybeari (later not pursued).
taylor2007a