Re: Dinos galore [snip] and Tendaguru dinos

["Tim Williams" <twilliams_alpha@hotmail.com>]

Nick Gardner <ratites637@hotmail.com> wrote:

> Some absolutely amazing sound stuff.  So, does this mean that an adult 
> Alioramus would have looked more like Tarbosaurus?

At the very least, adult _Alioramus_ would probably have had more elaborate 
cranial ornamentation than _Tarbosaurus_.


On the topic of Tendaguru dinosaurs...

> What theropods and ornithopods are known from the Tendaguru?

_Allosaurus_ and _Ceratosaurus_ species have been named based on Tendaguru 
material.  I'm not certain that these are correctly referred; they are based 
on fragmentary material, and usually treated as _nomina dubia_.

_Dryosaurus lettowvorbecki_ is the only Tendaguru ornithopod that I know of. 
 It's sometimes placed in its own genus, _Dysalotosaurus_.

BTW, there's also _Kentrosaurus_, a Tendaguru stegosaur.

> Aren't  they mostly species that were referred to N. American genera known 
> at the time?

The Tendaguru species of _Brachiosaurus_ and _Barosaurus_ have been assigned 
to the new genera _Giraffatitan_ and _Tornieria_, respectively.  These 
assignments have not received universal acceptance, however.  To my mind, 
there is strong evidence that the Tendaguru brachiosaur should be granted 
its own genus, for which _Giraffatitan_ (originally proposed by Paul as a 
subgenus) is available.  Not only are the skulls of _B. altithorax_ and _B. 
brancai_ (= _G. brancai_) quite distinct, but I'm not certain of any 
synapomorphies that can hold these two species together to the exclusion of 
other brachiosaurid species.

AFAIK, _Dicraeosaurus_ is unique to Tendaguru.  The problematic sauropod 
genera _Janenschia_ and _Tendaguria_ were named much later.  Both are unique 
to the Tendaguru beds.




Tim

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