Dyslocosaurus
Name:
Dyslocosaurus.
Phonetic: (hard to place lizard).
Named By: J. S. Mcintosh, W. P. Coombs
& D. A. Russell - 1992.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Sauropoda, Diplodocoidea, Dicraeosauridae?
Species: D. polyonychius
(type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Uncertain due to lack of remains.
Known locations: USA, Wyoming, Lance Creek?
Time period: Late Jurassic?
Fossil representation: Partial post cranial remains
of the limbs.
Dyslocosaurus
is a genus of diplodocid sauropod
dinosaur that lived in North America
during the late Jurassic. It is unknown exactly where the type
fossils of Dyslocosaurus are known from as when
they were first
discovered they only had ‘Lance Creek’ written on them. There is
a Lance Formation that is named after the Lance Creek of Wyoming, but
this is late Cretaceous in age, and diplodocid sauropods like
Dyslocosaurus are so far only known from Late
Jurassic deposits.
Currently
there is still a great deal of uncertainty about Dyslocosaurus
and not
just about where exactly it came from. Whereas most diplodocid
sauropod dinosaurs have three toes on the hind feet, Dyslocosaurus
was initially described as having at least four if not five toes.
Later in 2015 it was noted that a pedal phalanx assigned to
Dyslocosaurus had a different colouration to the
others, suggesting a
different origin and not actually belonging to the other, meaning
that Dyslocosaurus might have only had three like
in related genera.
Dyslocosaurus has also been described as a
dicraeosaurid diploocid,
something quite rare for the North American continent. However,
the vertebrae with tall neural spines that would confirm this
assessment are so far unknown to us.
Further reading
- A new diplodocid sauropod (Dinosauria) from Wyoming, U.S.A.
- Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 12(2):158-167. - J.
S. Mcintosh, W. P. Coombs & D. A. Russell -
1992.
- A specimen-level phylogenetic analysis and taxonomic revision of
Diplodocidae (Dinosauria, Sauropoda). - PeerJ 3: e857.
- E. Tschopp, O. V. Mateus & R. B. J.
Benson - 2015.
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