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Re: What are these dinosaurs?



In a message dated 11/16/99 3:02:13 AM EST, mickey_mortimer@email.msn.com 
writes:

<< While perusing the Dinosauricon, I noticed a few names that are apparently
 nomina nuda and very old.  What's the deal with-
 
 Proiguanodon van der Broek, 1900>>

I believe the author's name is spelled van den Broeck.

Unfortunately, my copy of this paper is buried right now, but as I recall, 
this would be a synonym of Iguanodon had it been properly proposed: a 
suggested generic name for material referred to Iguanodon in case it turned 
out the material represented a more primitive genus. I spotted it several 
years ago when I first read the paper.

There is also a Proiguanodon Young, 1944, but that is a misspelling of 
Protiguanodon, a synonym of Psittacosaurus.

<< Protrachodon Nopsca 1923>>

This is a synonym of Orthomerus. Nopcsa made up this name to give validity to 
his earlier family-level name Protrachodontidae, which had no type genus. 
Subsequently Abel (1919) and Huene (1929) reused Nopcsa's name in various 
contexts, but spelled it Protrachodontinae and Protrachodontinidae, 
respectively. None of these names has any scientific validity; they are 
historical curiosities.

<< Tyreophorus Huene 1929>>

This is a misspelling of Thyreophora that became a nomen nudum genus in 
Huene's monograph on South American dinosaurs. I think he intended to refer 
some indeterminate ankylosaurian material to Thyreophora incertae sedis, and 
that's how it came out in published form. Perhaps a problem in translating 
the monograph into Spanish. Huene also acquired the genera Carnosaurus and 
Coelurosaurus in ths paper the same way: indeterminate large theropod 
material referred to Carnosauria incertae sedis and small theropod material 
referred to Coelurosauria incertae sedis.
 
<< Also, does anyone know if the following are prosauropods or sauropods-
 
<< Dachongosaurus Chao 1985>>

This is some kind of cetiosaurid. The name is also spelled Dachungosaurus, 
and it even has a species name, Dachungosaurus yunnanensis Chao, 1985.

<< Damalasaurus magnus/laticollis Chao 1986>>

This genus is supposed to be a brachiosaurid; the two included species may or 
may not be synonyms. It's laticostalis, not laticollis, by the way, and the 
year is 1985.

<< Lancanjiangosaurus Chao 1983>>

This is supposed to be another cetiosaurid: Lancanjiangosaurus cachuensis 
Chao, 1985. Not to be confused with Lancangosaurus Dong, Zhou & Zhang, 1983, 
a nomen nudum subsequently described as Datousaurus bashanensis Dong & Tang, 
1984.

<< Megacervixosaurus Chao 1983>>

This is probably a mamenchisaurid or diplodocid with a long neck: 
Megacervixosaurus tibetensis

<< Microdontosaurus Chao 1983>>

This is some kind of melanorosaurid prosauropod: Microdontosaurus dayensis 
Chao, 1985
 
<< Perhaps someone has seen a skeleton in a Chinese museum (I know they are
 fond of doing this before the specimen is described) or heard something
 about what exactly they are based on, where/when they are from and what they
 appear to be. >>

All these taxa appeared in Chao's infamous 1983 paper in Acta Palaeontologica 
Polonica on dinosaur evolution. He included about a dozen new genera whose 
definitions and descriptions were said to be "in press," but the document 
they were to appear in (the published version of Chao's doctoral dissertation 
on Tibetan dinosaurs and their relationships) was rejected by the IVPP as 
unpublishable and has not yet been rewritten/corrected and resubmitted. Chao 
has probably given up on it. All the names therein are nomina nuda, but a few 
have apparently been described subsequently, either by Chao or by other 
workers, some under other names. Chao subsequently used many of those names 
and a couple of new ones, and even gave species names to most of his 1983 
genera without species names, in articles on Jurassic and Cretaceous Chinese 
biostratigraphy in 1985 (not 1986: same book, two different articles). There 
are photos and figures of some of this material in the 1985 work.