Ohmdenosaurus
Name:
Ohmdenosaurus
(Ohmden lizard).
Phonetic: Owm-den-o-sore-us.
Named By: R. Wild - 1978.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Sauropodomorpha, Sauropoda, Vulcanodontidae?
Species: O. liasicus (type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Tibia about 405 millimetres (0.45 meters)
long. Total body size unknown due to overall lack of fossil remains.
Known locations: Germany - Posidonia Shale.
Time period: Toarcian of the Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Partial limb bones including
tibia, astralgus and calcaneus.
Ohmdenosaurus
is a little known genus of sauropod,
and perhaps not surprisingly
known by very little remains. These remains have in the past been
attributed to the Vulcanodontidae group of sauropods, though this
group has also been problematic in its classification in the past, in
fact for a time the group fell into disuse after the type genus
Vulcanodon
could only be confidently assigned to it. It was only with
the 2004 description of the genus Tazoudasaurus
that the group has
seen a limited resurrection in use. Still, the Ohmdenosaurus
remains have been considered to be so indeterminate that they have an
uncertain place within this group, and some researchers have even
questioned the validity of the genus given that it would be exceedingly
difficult to attribute further remains to the genus.
The
Ohmdenosaurus fossils were found in a marine
deposit, but weathering
patterns on the bones seem to suggest that they were washed out to sea
as bones, rather than an individual being washed out to sea and then
decomposing. The time period that the remains were deposited in has
been pinned down as the Toarcian of the Jurassic, something that has
been possible due to the presence of other Toarcian aged animals such
as the snail Coelodiscus found in proximity to the
type fossils.
Ohmdenosaurus
seems to have been small for a sauropod dinosaur, perhaps as a result
of insular dwarfism. The full details of who big Ohmdenosaurus grew
however are exceedingly difficult to determine since at the time of
writing no remains of the neck, tail or even the main body of the
dinosaur are known, and so estimated of length can vary greatly.
Further reading
- Ein Sauropoden-Rest (Reptilia, Saurischia) aus dem
Posidonienschiefer (Lias, Toarcium) von Holzmaden - 1978.
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