Re: Dinosaur fossils destroyed in WW2 - was it just Spinosaurus typo?

[Tim Williams <twilliams_alpha@hotmail.com>]

Simon M. Clabby wrote:

> Most of the original material of Thecodontosaurus
> antiquus, which was on display in the Bristol City
> Museum, was destroyed in the Bristol Blitz in 1941.

Although the original type material of _T. antiquus_ was destroyed, much of 
the original material survived, according to Yates (2000):

"The type specimen of _T. antiquus_ is not now available for study, since it 
was lost in a bombing raid on Bristol in November, 1940 that destroyed the 
original geology gallery of Bristol City Museum.  It has often been assumed 
that all the original material was lost at that time.  However, several 
drawers of topotype material of _T. antiquus_ still remain in the Bristol 
collection, including many figured specimens, and this material dates 
largely from the collecting efforts in the 1830s.  The extant material 
consists of 184 specimens, many of them figured, and including some of the 
specimens figured by Riley and Stutchbury (1840).  One specimen, the 
proximal end of a femur (BRSMG Ca7456), shows burn marks, and a note states 
that it was salvaged from the wreckage of the museum annex in May, 1941.  
Additional topotype material of _Thecodontosaurus antiquus_ is in the 
Natural History Museum, London, the Peabody Museum of Natural History, and 
the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia.  These specimens were 
distributed by Edward Wilson (1848?1898), who was Curator at the Bristol 
Museum from 1884 until his death."

Other destroyed dinosaur fossils (aside from Stromer's collection) include:

The type specimen of _Poekilopleuron bucklandii_, housed in the Musée de la 
Faculté des Sciences de Caen, which was another casualty of the Second World 
War.

The type specimen of _Podokesaurus holyokensis_, housed in the basement of 
Mount Holyoke College.  In 1917, a fire destroyed the entire building.

The type specimen of _Amphicoelias fragillimus_ was lost in transit, during 
the transport of Cope's collection from the AMNH (New York) to ANSP 
(Philadelphia).  It is presumed destroyed.


Vladimír Socha wrote:

> I also found a notice of G. A. Mantell's spinal cord, destroyed by german 
> bombers in 1940 (?).

It's a good thing Mantell was no longer alive at the time.

;-)


Tim