ORYCTOS 2

[darren.naish@port.ac.uk]

Have just seen vol. 2 of _Oryctos_; it's dated 1999 and includes 
several papers of interest to this list. We clearly are in the midst 
of a sauropodomorph research fest as there are three papers here on 
the group with one new genus (as reported by George earlier this 
month).

Cuny, G., Gauffre, F.-X. and Hunt, A. First discovery of a cynodont 
from the Moenkopi Formation (Middle Triassic) of Northeastern 
Arizona. pp. 17-20. 

A tricuspid, labiolingually compressed tooth from the Anisian is 
assigned to Cynodontia incertae sedis. This is the first cynodont 
fossil from the middle Triassic of the American SW. [Jerry.. is this 
_that_ specimen?]

Tidwell, V., Carpenter, K. and Brooks, W. New sauropod from the Lower 
Cretaceous of Utah, USA. pp. 21-37.

The new taxon _Cedarosaurus weiskopfae_ is a brachiosaurid from the 
Yellow Cat Member of the Cedar Mountain Fm. Specific name honours 
field and lab worker  Carol Weiskopf. _Cedarosaurus_ is surprisingly 
complete; the neck and head are missing but the rest of the skeleton 
is well represented. The humerus is about equal in length to the 
femur (h/f ratio .98), which is unique, and the caudal verts are 
distinctive. Authors compare it extensively with material referred to 
_Pleurocoelus_  and suggest that some of this might belong to 
_Cedarosaurus_. 

Martin, V., Suteethorn, V. and Buffetaut, E. Description of the type 
and referred material of _Phuwiangosaurus sirindhornae_ Martin, 
Buffetaut and Suteethorn, 1994, a sauropod from the Lower Cretaceous 
of Thailand. pp. 39-91.

A full osteology - way too much to even attempt to summarise. The 
authors conclude that it is a nemegtosaurid because of its teeth 
(there aren't really close similarities to dicraeosaurids in the 
postcrania) and note the controversial affinities of this group. The 
cervicals are very broad (the most cranial of them are even broader 
than those of _Apatosaurus_  judging from the figs but they become 
much narrower and taller caudally), cranial caudals are amphiplatyan 
or amphicoelous and the chevrons are not of diplodocoid form. If it 
is a nemegtosaurid, their bodies were not like those of 
dicraeosaurids - thus _Phuwiangosaurus_ may support titanosaurian 
affinities for the group. Juvenile material is being written up. 

Csiki, Z. New evidence of armoured titanosaurids in the Late 
Cretaceous - _Magyarosaurus dacus_ from the Hateg Basin (Romania). 
pp. 93-99.

An osteoderm whose symmetry suggests it is from the dorsal midline - 
used to suggest that armour was widespread in titanosaurians.

Buffetaut, E. Mantell, Cuvier, Buckland and the identification of 
_Iguanodon_: a contribution based on unpublished annotations by 
Mantell. pp. 101-109.

The title says it all. Will have to read this carefully - augments 
nicely recent work by Dean on the same area.

Meyer, C. A. and Hunt, A. P. The first pterosaur from the Late 
Jurassic of Switzerland: evidence for the largest Jurassic flying 
animal. pp. 111-116.

A long, straight hollow bone from the Solothurn Turtle Limestone 
(Kimmeridgian) was identified by von Huene (1926) as a theropod 
fibula. In fact, it's probably a right wing phalanx II of a pterosaur 
- the lack of a groove suggests it's from a pterodactyloid (but, as 
Unwin showed in 1988, some rhamphorhynchoids do lack this groove and 
it's absence here could be size dependent). There are possible tooth 
marks on the bone. The most interesting thing, of course, is that the 
bone indicates a wingspan of between 3.5 and 5 m, making this the 
biggest Jurassic pterosaur. Meyer and Hunt note that there is other 
evidence for Jurassic giants from the Purbeck Group: the tracks named 
_Purbeckopus_ by Wright et al. (1996).

Finally, vol. 1 (ish 10) of the _Geological Society of the Isle of 
Wight Newsletter_ (December 1999) has articles on giant sauropods 
(mostly concerned with _Sauroposeidon_), feathered theropods 
(suggests that Chinese forms were unique in possessing feathers and 
refers to a new group called the ornitbomimids:)) and new phalangeal 
material referred to _Neovenator_. 

DARREN NAISH 
PALAEOBIOLOGY RESEARCH GROUP
School of Earth, Environmental & Physical Sciences
UNIVERSITY OF PORTSMOUTH
Burnaby Building
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Portsmouth UK                          tel: 01703 446718
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