Re: Titanoceratops, giant ceratopsian from New Mexico

[Tim Williams <tijawi@gmail.com>]

> In case this new advance publication paper has not been mentioned yet:
>
> Nicholas R. Longrich (2010) Titanoceratops ouranous, a giant horned dinosaur 
> from the
> Late Campanian of New Mexico. Cretaceous Research (advance online publication)
> doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2010.12.007


There seems to be a discrepancy in the spelling of the species name
between the title of the paper (ouranous) and the body of the paper
(ouranos), with the former having an extra (and unnecessary) 'u'.
Something to correct before final publication.  BTW, the inspiration
for the species name is Ouranos, the father of the Titans in Greek
mythology.  This is the same dude that gives his name to the planet
Uranus.  Apparently, the etymology is not the same as that of
_Ouranosaurus_, which comes from the Tuareg name for monitor lizard
('ourane'), and is cognate with 'varanus'.


Anyway, back to _Titanoceratops_ (cool name, IMHO).  Aside from
erecting a new genus for an erstwhile _Pentaceratops_ specimen, the
paper puts forward a few more taxonomic changes vis-a-vis
_Triceratops_.  The referral of _Torosaurus_ to _Triceratops_ is
explicitly rejected; a separate diagnosis is provided for each, and
the "absence of intermediate forms argues that the two are not part of
an ontogenetic series."   On the other hand, _Nedoceratops_
(=_Diceratops_) and _Ojoceratops_ are referred to _Triceratops_ as
junior synonyms.  For the latter: "the broad, squared-off end of the
squamosal, putatively a diagnostic feature of “_Ojoceratops_” is
approached by at least one specimen of _Triceratops_ (_Triceratops
“serratus”_, AMNH 970)."  So I guess _Ojoceratops_ is the problem.
more so than _T. serratus_, which I assume is safe inside
_Triceratops_.  The status of another new genus, _Tatankaceratops_, is
given as "problematic".  It "preserves a bizarre mixture of characters
seen in juvenile and adult _Triceratops_", so the specimen is either
an aberrant _Triceratops_ that stopped growing before reaching full
size, or a dwarf triceratopsin species.  I wouldn't be surprised if
more taxonomic convulsions are in stall for the Triceratopsini.



Cheers

Tim