Dinosaur Genera List update #188

[Dinogeorge@aol.com]

The latest issue of Vertebrata PalAsiatica carries the description of a new 
therizinosauroid segnosaurian:

Xu Xing, Zhang Xiao-hong, Paul Sereno, Zhao Xi-jin, Kuang Xue-wen, Han Jun & 
Tan Lin, 2002. "A New Therizinosauroid (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from the Upper 
Cretaceous Iren Dabasu Formation of Nei Mongol," Vertebrata Palasiatica 40
(3): 228-240

The abstract was provided by DML member Kazuo Takahashi:

Abstract
A partial skeleton is described from the Upper Cretaceous Iren Dabasu 
Formation of Nei Mongol that represents a new therizinosauroid theropod, 
Erliansaurus bellamanus gen. et sp. nov. Distinctive characteristics of the 
new species include enlarged nutritional foramen on anterior caudals, 
prominent crest-like posterior trochanter on the humerus bordered medially by 
an oval depression, rugose swelling located dorsal to the ischiadic peduncle 
on the lateral surface of the ilium, posterior margin significantly higher 
than anterior margin on the fibular proximal end, and distally located 
hypertrophied anterior trochanter on the fibula. Preliminary analysis 
suggests that E. bellamanus represents an intermediate taxon between the 
primitive therizinosauroids and the advanced therizinosauroidae. The 
discovery of E. bellamanus provides important information regarding the 
diversity within Therizinosauroidea.

Not having seen the article yet, I don't know what the abstract means by the 
term "therizinosauroidae." But in any case, the paper provides name #949 in 
the Dinosaur Genera List:

Erliansaurus Xu, Zhang, Sereno, Zhao, Kuang, Han & Tan, 2002

and the following entry in the Asiatic dinosaurs section of the forthcoming 
second printing of Mesozoic Meanderings #3:

Erliansaurus Xu, Zhang, Sereno, Zhao, Kuang, Han & Tan, 2002
    E. bellamanus Xu, Zhang, Sereno, Zhao, Kuang, Han & Tan, 2002â

-----------------------------------------------------------------

A recent email from Terry Michitsch on the derivation of the old species name 
elizae in Plateosaurus elizae disclosed something of a surprise. Terry traced 
the name back to its original description as Thecodontosaurus elisae in a 
1907 article by Sauvage. The original spelling of the species name is elisae, 
not elizae, which is how it was spelled by von Huene in 1908, when he 
referred the species to the genus Plateosaurus, and in practically all 
subsequent references. There being no evidence of a typographical error in 
the original paper, the original spelling elisae (from the first name of 
Elisa Thiery, the discoverer of the fossil) must stand, and it results in the 
following correction for the forthcoming second printing of Mesozoic 
Meanderings #3, under Thecodontosaurus in the European dinosaurs section:

    ?T. elisae Sauvage, 1907 [nomen dubium]*
        = Plateosaurus elizae (Sauvage, 1907) von Huene, 1908 [sic]*
        = Plateosaurus elisae (Sauvage, 1907) emend. nov. [nomen dubium]*Â
        = Thecodontosaurus elizae von Huene, 1914 [sic]*
NOTE: Von Huene referred this species to the genus Plateosaurus in 1908 but 
misspelled the species name (T. Michitsch, pers. comm.), so the spelling 
elizae became predominant in the literature. Nevertheless, the original 
spelling must be preferred. In any case, this species is based on the teeth 
of a carnivore (rauisuchid, herrerasaurid, ornithosuchid, or theropod) and is 
not a prosauropod, therefore it does not belong in this genus (Galton, 1985), 
and it is likely not dinosaurian.

Note that if the species is to be referred to the genus Plateosaurus, then 
the name must become Plateosaurus elisae, not Plateosaurus elizae, hence the 
new emendation. How strange that nobody bothered to check the original 
spelling during the past 95 years until Terry did.