Dinosaur Genera List update #195

[Dinogeorge@aol.com]

There are a fair number of changes to report, which have accumulated over the 
past several weeks. I had been too busy to write them up as Dinosaur Genera 
List updates until now. Although everything in this message is nicely 
formatted and typeset at this end, it is almost certain that it will break up 
into something horrid at your end. Alas, I have no control over that. So, 
without further ado:

Epidendrosaurus is "official"; the paper has now appeared in print:

Zhang Fucheng, Zhonghe Zhou, Xing Xu, & Xiaolin Wang. 2002. "A juvenile 
coelurosaurian theropod from China indicates arboreal habits," 
Naturwissenschaften 89: 394-398.

Here is the entry as it appears in The Dinosaur Catalogue:

    Epidendrosaurus Zhang, Zhou, Xu & Wang, 2002 [juv.]
    Possible junior subjective synonym of Scansoriopteryx
    Theropoda > Tetanurae > Coeluria > Maniraptora > Scansoriopterygidae
Epidendrosaurus ningchengensis Zhang, Zhou, Xu & Wang, 2002â [juv.]
    ?Upper Jurassic > Daohugou Fm.
    Asia > China > Inner Mongolia (Nei Monggol AR) > Ningcheng Co. > Daohugou
    IVPP V12653: Nearly complete skeleton of juvenile individual
    Hypodigm APK:100/95: Holotype skeleton only

The above is slightly modifed from the way it was listed in the previous DGL 
update. It becomes name #958 in the Dinosaur Genera List. Thanks to Andy 
Heckert for this information.
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We have a new status for the genera Protecovasaurus and Crosbysaurus. They 
are no longer nomina ex dissertatione, they are now nomina nuda, since the 
abstract of Andy Heckert's dissertation has now been published:

Heckert, Andrew B, 2000. "The microvertebrate record of the Upper Triassic 
Lower Chinle Group (Carnian), southwestern U.S.A. and the early evolution of 
dinosaurs," Ph.D. dissertation abstract, Department of Earth and Planetary 
Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, 465 pp., in New 
Mexico Geology 24(3): 102 [August 2002].

Crosbysaurus Heckert, 2002 [nomen nudum; in abstract of dissertation]
Protecovasaurus Heckert, 2002 [nomen nudum; in abstract of dissertation]

They still don't have the coveted boldface type, but they're now a bit 
closer. Thanks to Ben Creisler, who notified me of this publication, and 
Tracy Ford, who photocopied it for me. Here are The Dinosaur Catalogue 
entries for these two genera:

    Crosbysaurus Heckert, 2002 [nomen nudum]
    Crosbysaurus Heckert, 2002 [nomen ex dissertatione]
    Ornithischia
Crosbysaurus harrisae Heckert, 2002â
    Crosbysaurus harrisae Heckert, 2002 [nomen ex dissertatione]â
    Upper Triassic > Upper Carnian > Otischalkian/Adamanian > Chinle Gp. > 
Tecovas Fm.
    North America > Texas > Crosby Co. > Lower Kalgary locality 1312
    NMMNH P-34200: Tooth crown
    Hypodigm APK:2/0: NMMNH P-34201, P-34260, P-34261, P-34262, P-34319 (3 
teeth),
        P-34320, P-34393 & P-34394 topotype tooth crowns; NMMNH P-26396, 
P-34404,
        P-34408, P-34409, P-18402, P-18403, P-18404 & PEFO 20336 teeth and 
tooth
        fragments from other localities, and possibly several more teeth 
described as aff.
        Crosbysaurus harrisae, in addition to holotype tooth
    Generic and specific names from publicly available doctoral dissertation 
first appeared in
        published form in the abstract of the disseration in New Mexico 
Geology 24(3): 102
        [August 2002]

    Protecovasaurus Heckert, 2002 [nomen nudum]
    Protecovasaurus Heckert, 2002 [nomen ex dissertatione]
    Ornithischia
Protecovasaurus lucasi Heckert, 2002â
    Protecovasaurus lucasi Heckert, 2002 [nomen ex dissertatione]â
    Upper Triassic > Upper Carnian > Otischalkian/Adamanian > Chinle Gp. > 
Tecovas Fm.
    North America > Texas > Crosby Co. > Lower Kalgary locality 1312
    NMMNH P-34196: Tooth crown
    Hypodigm APK:2/0: NMMNH P-34197, P-34321b, P-34321c, P-34322, P-34392, 
P-34495 &
        P-34496 topotype tooth crowns; P-26441 & P-34221 referred tooth 
crowns from other
        localities; and several other teeth of similar morphology, in 
addition to holotype tooth
    Generic and specific names from publicly available doctoral dissertation 
first appeared in
        published form in the abstract of the disseration in New Mexico 
Geology 24(3): 102
        [August 2002]
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We now have a new status for the genus Shenzhouraptor. As I suspected in my 
previous post on this genus (DGL update #187), it was a formally published 
name when its news release appeared on July 23, 2002. Here is the reference:

Ji Q., Ji S., You H., Zhang J., Yuan C., Ji X., Li J. & Li Y., 2002. 
"[Discovery of an avialae bird â Shenzhouraptor sinensis gen. et sp. nov â 
from China]," Geological Bulletin of China 21(7): 363â369 + 2 plates [in 
Chinese with English abstract].

Thanks to Jerry Harris and Jaime Headden for spreading the news of this new 
genus. Here is The Dinosaur Catalogue entry for this species as it now stands 
(needless to say, I think this is another example of a volant nonavian 
dinosaur, and so it should be included in the catalogue):

    Shenzhouraptor Ji Q., Ji S., You, Zhang J., Yuan,
    Ji X., Li J. & Li Y., 2002
    Possible senior subjective synonym of Jeholornis
    Theropoda > Tetanurae > Coeluria > Maniraptora
Shenzhouraptor sinensis Ji Q., Ji S., You, Zhang J., Yuan, Ji X., Li J. & Li 
Y., 2002â
    Possible senior subjective synonym of Jeholornis prima
    Lower Cretaceous > Jiufotang Fm.
    Asia > China > Liaoning Prov. > Yixian Co. > Shenzhou
    LPM 0193: Nearly complete postcranial skeleton w/ crushed partial skull 
and feather
        impressions, missing distalmost caudals
    Hypodigm APK:80/99: Holotype specimen only
    Classified as an avialan bird in the original description, this may well 
be a volant nonavialan
        theropod, somewhat smaller than the holotype individual of Jeholornis 
prima,
        suggested in several e-mails as a synonym
    Shenzhouraptor appeared in the July 2002 issue of the Geological Bulletin 
of China, whereas
        Jeholornis appeared in the July 25, 2002 issue of Nature. Ordinarily 
this would make
        Jeholornis the senior synonym, because according to ICZN rules, a 
monthly
        publication with no specified day date is taken as having been 
published on the last
        day of the month. But there is proper evidence, in the form of press 
releases and
        Chinese news articles dated July 23, 2002 (China Daily), that 
Shenzhouraptor
        appeared in print at least two days before Jeholornis. So 
Shenzhouraptor would be
        the senior synonym, if synonymy of the genera can in fact be 
established.

Just for the sake of interest, here is The Dinosaur Catalogue complementary 
entry for Jeholornis, which is also in the DGL as a possible volant nonavian 
theropod dinosaur:

        Jeholornis Zhou & Zhang F., 2002
    Possible junior subjective synonym of Shenzhouraptor
    Theropoda > Tetanurae > Coeluria > Maniraptora
Jeholornis prima Zhou & Zhang F., 2002â
    Possible junior subjective synonym of Shenzhouraptor sinensis
    Lower Cretaceous > Jiufotang Fm.
    Asia > China > Liaoning Prov. > Chaoyang Co. > Chaoyang City > Dapingfang
    IVPP V13274: Nearly complete skeleton w/ skull, in 5 slabs
    Hypodigm APK:99/99: Holotype specimen only
    Classified as an avialan bird closely related to Rahonavis in the 
original description, this may
        well be a volant nonavialan theropod, somewhat larger than the 
holotype individual of
        Shenzhouraptor sinensis, suggested in several e-mails as a synonym
    Jeholornis appeared in the July 25, 2002 issue of Nature, whereas 
Shenzhouraptor appeared
        in the July 2002 issue of the Geological Bulletin of China. 
Ordinarily this would make
        Jeholornis the senior synonym, because according to ICZN rules, a 
monthly
        publication with no specified day date is taken as having been 
published on the last 
        day of the month. But there is proper evidence, in the form of press 
releases and
        Chinese news articles dated July 23, 2002 (China Daily), that 
Shenzhouraptor
        appeared in print at least two days before Jeholornis. So 
Shenzhouraptor would be
        the senior synonym, if synonymy of the genera can in fact be 
established.

The citation for Jeholornis is

Zhou Zhonghe & Zhang Fucheng, 2002. "A long-tailed, seed-eating bird from the 
Early Cretaceous of China," Nature 418: 405â409 [July 25, 2002].

Additions and corrections always welcome.
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Jaime Headden let me know that in Mike Novacek's book Time Traveler (p. 203), 
he referred to the small theropod Byronosaurus jaffei under the name 
Byranjaffia. Although this makes Byranjaffia a junior objective synonym of 
Byronosaurus, it nevertheless qualifies as name #959 in the Dinosaur Genera 
List:

Byranjaffia Novacek, 2002 [JOS -> Byronosaurus]

Here are The Dinosaur Catalogue entries for Byranjaffia and Byronosaurus:

    Byranjaffia Novacek, 2002
    Junior objective synonym of Byronosaurus
    Theropoda > Tetanurae > Coeluria > Maniraptora > Troodontidae
No type species given; name appears in Novacek, 2002, Time Traveler: In 
Search of Dinosaurs and
    Ancient Mammals from Montana to Mongolia (p. 302) in place of 
Byronosaurus jaffei, either
    as an error (lapsus calami) or as an unpublished name previously intended 
for the genus
    Byronosaurus

    Byronosaurus Norell, Makovicky & Clark, 2000
    Senior objective synonym of Byranjaffia
    Theropoda > Tetanurae > Coeluria > Maniraptora > Troodontidae
Byronosaurus jaffei Norell, Makovicky & Clark, 2000â
    Upper Cretaceous > Middle/Upper Campanian > Baruungoyotskaya Svita (= 
Barun Goyot Fm.)
    Asia > Mongolia > Gobi Desert > Ukhaa Tolgod
    IGM 100/983: Partial skull w/ meager, mainly undescribed postcrania
    Hypodigm APK:80/5: IGM 100/984 partial rostrum from Bolor's Hill, 5 km 
from Ukhaa Tolgod,
        in addition to holotype specimen

Additions and corrections welcome.
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There is a status change for the genus Patricosaurus, which was restudied by 
Barrett & Evans (2002). It turns out to be a lepidosaur/archosaur chimera. 
Here is The Dinosaur Catalogue entry for this genus:

    Patricosaurus Seeley, 1887 [nomen dubium]
    Nondinosaurian: Lepidosaur/archosaur chimera (Barrett & Evans, 2002)
Patricosaurus merocratus Seeley, 1887â
    Lower Cretaceous > Upper Albian > Cambridge Greensand (or reworked from 
Gault Clay)
    Europe > Great Britain > England > Cambridgeshire > Cambridge > probably 
from an
        unrecorded coprolite pit
    SMC B58401, 58402: Proximal right femur & sacral vertebra, collected 20 
years apart from
        different localities in the same horizon
    Hypodigm APK:0/3: Syntype specimens, which belong to two different clades 
(B58401 femur is
        large lepidosaur or lacertilian; B58402 vertebra is small archosaur: 
crocodylian or
        hypsilophodontian dinosaur; Barrett & Evans, 2002), but which Seeley, 
1887 and
        others considered as belonging to the same species in Lacertilia 
incertae sedis
    Considered an indeterminate small theropod by Olshevsky, 1991

Someone should select one of the two syntypes to be the lectotype specimen. 
Here is the citation:

Barrett, Paul M. & Evans, Susan E., 2002. "A reassessment of the Early 
Cretaceous reptile âPatricosaurus merocratus' Seeley from the Cambridge 
Greensand, Cambridgeshire, UK," Cretaceous Research 23: 231â240.
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News of a new early dinosaur genus appeared on several Polish news websites 
around October 26, 2002. It becomes name #960 in the Dinosaur Genera List:

Silesaurus Dzik & Majer vide Mokoluszko, 2002 [nomen nudum: in Gazeta 
Wyborcza]

Thanks to Piotr Gasiorowski, I have enough information for the following 
tentative entry in The Dinosaur Catalogue:

    Silesaurus Dzik & Majer vide Moko uszko, 2002 [nomen nudum]
    Basal Dinosauria, Sauropoda, Prosauropoda, or (most likely) Ornithischia
Silesaurus opolensis Dzik & Majer vide Moko uszko, 2002â
    Upper Triassic > Carnian
    Europe > Poland > Silesia > Opole
    PAN catalogue number not yet available: At least one nearly complete 
skeleton
    Hypodigm APK:90/90?: Remains of at least 12 individuals including the 
"type" skeleton
    Name of genus and species appeared in a bylined news article in a late 
October 2002 issue of
        Gazeta Wyborcza; formal description to appear in a forthcoming issue 
of Journal of
        Vertebrate Paleontology; name of genus first appeared in the July 
2002 Polish edition
        of National Geographic (P. Gasiorowski, pers. comm.)

The geological dates given in the news articles made it seem as if Silesaurus 
were a Ladinian dinosaur, but other information indicates this age is too 
early. I'd appreciate a citation to the July 2002 Polish National Geographic 
article where the name Silesaurus first appears. Thanks to Ken Kinman for 
notifying me of this genus.
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An email from Alessandro Marissa indicated that You Hai-lu's doctoral 
dissertation is now publicly available from UMI:

You Hai-lu, 2002. "Mazongshan dinosaur assemblage from late Early Cretaceous 
of northwest China," Ph.D. dissertation, University of Pennsylvania: 164 pp.

In it are described two new genera, which become #961 and 962 in the Dinosaur 
Genera List:

Equijubus You, 2002 [nomen ex dissertatione]
Gobititan You, 2002 [nomen ex dissertatione]

There's almost no point to transmitting their Dinosaur Catalogue entries 
before I have had a chance to go through the dissertation, which I've ordered 
from UMI, but here they are as they stand right now, doubtless to be 
rewritten once the dissertation arrives:

    Equijubus You, 2002 [nomen ex dissertatione]
    Ornithischia > Ornithopoda > Iguanodontia > Basal Hadrosauria
Equijubus normani You, 2002â
    Lower Cretaceous/Upper Cretaceous > Albian/Cenomanian? > Khukhtekian 
faunachron >
        Xinminbao Gr. > Middle Gray Unit
    Asia > China > Gansu Prov. > Mongolian Autonomous Co. of Subei > 
Mazongshan Area >
        Gonpoquan Basin
    Catalogue number unavailable: Complete skull w/ partial postcrania
    Hypodigm APK:100?/50?: Holotype specimen only
    Genus and species described in publicly available doctoral dissertation 
but not yet formally
        described

    Gobititan You, 2002 [nomen ex dissertatione]
    Brontosauria > Sauropoda > Eusauropoda > Titanosauria
Gobititan shenzhouensis You, 2002â
    Lower Cretaceous/Upper Cretaceous > Albian/Cenomanian? > Khukhtekian 
faunachron >
        Xinminbao Gr. > Middle Gray Bed
    Asia > China > Gansu Prov. > Mongolian Autonomous Co. of Subei > 
Mazongshan Area >
        Gonpoquan Basin
    Catalogue number unavailable: Mid-to-distal caudal series & left hindlimb
    Hypodigm APK:0/30?: Holotype specimen only
    Genus and species described in publicly available doctoral dissertation 
but not yet formally
        described
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Finally, name #963 in the Dinosaur Genera List is brought to you by e-mail 
correspondent Kazuo Takahashi:

Crichtonsaurus Dong, 2002

Named after (guess who?). Here is The Dinosaur Catalogue entry for this genus 
as it stands now. As with the preceding, it will certainly be rewritten once 
the issue of Vertebrata PalAsiatica reaches these shores:



    Crichtonsaurus Dong, 2002
    Ornithischia > Ankylosauria
Crichtonsaurus bohlini Dong, 2002â
    Upper Cretaceous? > Sunjiawin Fm.
    Asia > China > Liaoning Prov. > Beipiao City > Xiafuxiang
    IVPP V12745: Partial dentary w/ teeth
    Hypodigm APK:5/5: IVPP V12746-2 dorsal vertebra and LPM 101-1â4 
postcrania, in addition to
        holotype specimen

Here's all I have of the citation so far: Vertebrata PalAsiatica 40(3): 
276â283.
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The Dinosaur Genera List is at

http://members.aol.com/Dinogeorge/dinolist.html

And t-t-t-that's all, folks!