Re: PILOT WHALES & POLACANTHIDS

[Tom Holtz <tholtz@geochange.er.usgs.gov>]

>STRUTHIOSAURUS AND ACANTHOPHOLIS
>
>If someone out there with access to info. on the nodosaurid Struthiosaurus
>could help me with the following query I'd be extremely grateful. It has
>recently been shown that the hadrosaurid Telmatosaurus was a kind of 'island
>relict', a living fossil of its age. Has there been any published information
>on Struthiosaurus that support a similar interpretation?

Some people have suggested the small size of Struthiosaurus (relative to
Edmontonia, Panoplosaurus, etc.) is evidence of island dwarfism.  However,
until we figure out where Struthiosaurus fits in the ankylosaurian family
tree, that might be a premature conclusion.

>And how did
>Struthiosaurus get its name, seeing as Struthio is the generic name for the
>ostrich?

When the type of Struthiosaurus austriacus (a braincase) was found and
described, it was thought to come from a bird-like theropod, so named
"Ostrich lizard" (Struthiosaurus).  Younger fossils were later discovered
and named S. transsylvanicus, and were clearly ankylosaurian.

The 1990s saw a rennaisance in Struthiosaurus studies.  In the Dinosauria,
Coombs & Mayanska thought that the type of S. austriacus was not a
nodosaurid, but from a saurischian (& probably a theropod).  This would
leave the younger form without a generic name.  Weishampel and some others
picked up on this in some of their Transylannian dino papers.  In the
meantime, Galton & Pereda-Suberbiola have since shown that S. austriacus IS
a nodosaurid, and that it may be the same species as S. transsylvanicus.

>Can anyone please give a ref. for Dyslocosaurus, a diplodocid with more than 3
>unguals (claws) on its foot.

McIntosh, J.A., W.P. Coombs, Jr., & D.A. Russell.  1992.  A new diplodocid
sauropod (Dinosauria) from Wyoming, U.S.A.  Journal of Vertebrate
Paleontology, 12: 158-167.

                                
Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.                                   
tholtz@geochange.er.usgs.gov
Vertebrate Paleontologist in Exile                  Phone:      703-648-5280
U.S. Geological Survey                                FAX:      703-648-5420
Branch of Paleontology & Stratigraphy
MS 970 National Center
Reston, VA  22092
U.S.A.