Re: When carnivores kill other carnivores... (Morrison movie questions)

[Michael Mortimer <mickey_mortimer111@msn.com>]

Sean Craven wrote-

> 1) Is Saurophaganax a distinct species, or is it just a very large Allosaur 
> of another species? (And under what circumstances do you capitalize the 
> name of a species?)

Yes, it's a distinct species- Saurophaganax maximus.  Whether you believe it 
should be kept in its own genus, or placed into Allosaurus (as Allosaurus 
maximus), is subjective.
Species names are never capitalized.

> 2) Huh. So there's a giant Ceratosaurus in the Morrison formation. Would it 
> get to be as large as the one that seems to have been present in the 
> Tendaguru? (And for that matter, how reasonable would it be to use species 
> from the Tendaguru formation in a Morrison setting?)

The holotype of Ceratosaurus dentisulcatus is larger than the holotype of C. 
nasicornis, but ~6.7 meters is hardly giant.  The Tendaguru specimens seem 
to indicate larger individuals (Ceratosaurus? roechlingi - ~9.3 meters).
It's probably not reasonable at all to use Tendaguru species in a Morrison 
setting, as even when the same genus is present, different species are 
identified from each formation-
Morrison- Elaphrosaurus "philtippettorum", Ceratosaurus 
nasicornis/magnicornis/dentisulcatus, Barosaurus lentus, Brachiosaurus 
altithorax, Dryosaurus altus.
Tendaguru- Elaphrosaurus bambergi, Ceratosaurus roechlingi/ingens, 
Barosaurus africanus, Brachiosaurus brancai, Dryosaurus lettowvorbecki.
In addition, the Tendaguru Ceratosaurus and Morrison Elaphrosaurus are too 
poorly known to really tell if they are congeneric with their counterparts, 
while the other Tendaguru species have been given their own genera at times 
(Tornieria africanus, Giraffatitan brancai, Dysalotosaurus lettowvorbecki).

> 3) At this point, is it possible to reconstruct Torvosaurus with any degree 
> of accuracy, and if so, where would I look for skeletal diagrams, etc?

Yes, plenty is known of Torvosaurus.  Paul's (1988) skeletal reconstruction 
is online here-
http://www.palaeos.com/Vertebrates/Units/340Theropoda/Images/340.102.gif
Photographs of a mounted skeleton can be found via Google image.

> 4) How reasonable is it to use Acrocanthosaurus or a similar species in a 
> Morrison setting?

Not very.  While carcharodontosaurids should have existed in the Late 
Jurassic, none have been found yet.

Mickey Mortimer