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Carl Wiman's sauropods



From: Ben Creisler
bcreisler@gmail.com


A recent paper not yet mentioned on the DML:



Stephen F. Poropat (2013)
Carl Wiman's sauropods: The Uppsala Museum of Evolution's collection.
GFF (advance online publication)
DOI:10.1080/11035897.2012.759268
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/11035897.2012.759268#.Ubnoqvm1FcQ

The Museum of Evolution in Uppsala acquired a number of sauropod
specimens under the tenure of Professor Carl Wiman. The most intensely
studied of these are two partial skeletons, PMU 24705 (formerly PMU R
233) and PMU 24706 (formerly PMU R 234), excavated in Shandong
(Shantung) Province, China, by Otto Zdansky, which form the basis for
the species Euhelopus zdanskyi. These specimens were acquired by the
Museum of Evolution in the 1920s and remain the subject of much
interest among sauropod workers. The cranial anatomy, classification
and the age of Euhelopus have been the subject of some debate. Other
Chinese sauropod material in the Museum of Evolution collection
includes three vertebrae (one cervical, one dorsal and one caudal) and
an incomplete femur. The caudal vertebra has been recently referred to
Diplodocoidea by some researchers and to Titanosauriformes by others.
Incomplete sauropod remains, which may represent the topotype material
of Alamosaurus sanjuanensis (the only named post-Cenomanian North
American sauropod to date) in the Museum of Evolution collection from
New Mexico, coupled with specimens from North American museums, may
help resolve the validity of A. sanjuanensis as a taxon and the
“sauropod hiatus” as either a real phenomenon or an artefact of the
fossil record. The palaeontological significance of the Museum of
Evolution's sauropod collection cannot be overstated. These important
specimens continue to be a crucial resource for studies concerning
sauropod taxonomy, phylogenetic systematics, evolution and functional
morphology.