RE: Shunosaurus, Tail Clubs, and Ankylosauria

["Stewart, Dwight" <Dwight.Stewart@VLSI.com>]

Jerry;

   I'm NOT sure, but I thought the tail club was confirmed as belonging to
the
Shunosaurus, which I found the following note about:
This animal is intermediate between primitive cetiosaurids like Datousaurus
and the long-necked euhelopodids. 
        
        Dwight
        -----Original Message-----
        From:   Jerry D. Harris [SMTP:102354.2222@compuserve.com]
        Sent:   Tuesday, September 22, 1998 7:30 PM
        To:     Dinosaur ListServer
        Subject:        Shunosaurus, Tail Clubs, and Ankylosauria



        -------------------- Begin Original Message --------------------

        Message text written by INTERNET:qilongia@yahoo.com

        "Aside from the improbability of a Jurassic ankylosaurid"


        -------------------- End Original Message --------------------

                Um...I think I might have missed something here!  Last I
checked,
        there were at least two Jurassic ankylosaurids (_Tianchisaurus_ from
the
        Middle Jurassic of China [1], which reportedly has a tail club, and
        _Gargoyleosaurus_ from the Late Jurassic of Wyoming [2]).  Has it
since
        been shown that the club attributed to _Tianchisaurus_ doesn't
belong
        there?  If so, and you've got a reference, please let me know!

                Plus, the latest phylogeny of the Ankylosauria [3] looks
something
        like this (detail omitted; use mono-spaced font):



        N   S   P    a
         \   \   \  /
          \   \   \/
           \   \  /
            \   \/ <- node A
             \  /
              \/
              /
             /
            /
           /
          / 

        where N = Nodosauridae, S = Shamosaurinae, P = Polacanthinae, A =
        Ankylosauridae, and a = traditional "ankylosaurids" (e.g.,
        _Euoplocephalus_, _Ankylosaurus_, _Saichania_, etc.)

                Since polacanthines are found in the Late Jurassic
(_Mymooropelta_
        from the Late Jurassic of Colorado [3, 4]), this means that
ankylosaurids
        do indeed occur in the Jurassic (although, as far as is currently
known,
        polacanthines don't have tail clubs -- the ankylosaurian tail club
may not
        have appeared 'til the Cretaceous if the club attributed to
_Tianchisaurus_
        isn't ankylosaurian).

        [1] Dong, Z.  1993.  An ankylosaur (ornithischian dinosaur) from the
Middle
        Jurassic of the Junggar Basin, China.  _Vertebrata PalAsiatica_
31(4): 
        257-266.

        [2] Carpenter, K., Miles, C., and Cloward, K.  1998.  Skull of a
Jurassic
        ankylosaur (Dinosauria).  _Nature_ 393:  782-783.

        [3] Kirkland, J.I.  1998.  A polacanthine ankylosaur (Ornithischia: 
        Dinosauria) from the Early Cretaceous (Barremian) of eastern Utah,
pp.
        271-281 _in_ Lucas, S.G., Kirkland, J.I., and Estep, J.W. (eds.)
_Lower
        and Middle Cretaceous Terrestrial Ecosystems_, New Mexico Museum of
Natural
        History and Science Bulletin 14.  (don't worry folks; it'll be
widely
        available in about 3 weeks!)

        [4] Kirkland, J.I. and Carpenter, K.  1994.  North America's first
        pre-Cretaceous ankylosaur (Dinosauria) from the Upper Jurassic
Morrison
        Formation of Western Colorado. _Brigham Young University Geology
Studies_
        40: 25-42.


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                             Jerry D. Harris
                         Fossil Preparation Lab
                  New Mexico Museum of Natural History
                           1801 Mountain Rd NW
                       Albuquerque  NM  87104-1375
                         Phone:  (505) 899-2809
                          Fax:  (505) 841-2866
                       102354.2222@compuserve.com