Re: Suuwassea Press Release

["Tim Williams" <twilliams_alpha@hotmail.com>]

Dan Varner wrote:

> "Suuwassea is the first unequivocal new sauropod from the Morrison 
> Formation
> a 150-million-year-old geological formation extending from New Mexico to
> Montana in more than a century." <snip>
>
>        Seismosaurus gets no respect. It's the Rodney Dangerfield of
> sauropods.

:-)

Lucas and Heckert (2000) sunk _Seismosaurus hallorum_ into the genus
_Diplodocus_, based on a personal communication from Brian Curtice
to one of the authors.  Although the new combination _Diplodocus
hallorum_ appears in the article, no published study AFAIK has
provided the rationale for synonymizing _Seismosaurus_ with
_Diplodocus_.

As for other Morrison sauropods named in the past century...

Jensen's _Ultrasaurus macintoshi_ (certainly) and _Dystylosaurus
edwini_ (probably) are referable to _Supersaurus_, as determined by
the work of Brian Curtice.

No published studies have yet sunk _Supersaurus_ into any other
Morrison taxon (e.g.,  _Barosaurus_).

Another of Jensen's Morrison genera, _Cathetosaurus_, was assigned
to the genus _Camarasaurus_ as _C. lewisi_.  I'm not sure I agree
with this.  _C. lewisi_ shares with titanosauriforms the
anterodorsal rotation of the ilium, and so _C. lewisi_ may be more
derived than true _Camarasaurus_.

Bakker's _Eobrontosaurus_ was erected for _Apatosaurus yahnahpin_,
which has a pectoral girdle very different to (other) _Apatosaurus_
species.  We'll have to see if the genus _Eobrontosaurus_ stands the
test of time, or will be put back into _Apatosaurus_.

_Haplocanthosaurus delfsi_ was named in 1988; but I think the above
quote was refering to new sauropod genera.  In any case, many
phylogenies show _Haplocanthosaurus_ to be paraphyletic, thereby
warranting a new genus for _delfsi_.



Tim
>

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