Re: Szechuanosaurus

[pharrinj@PLU.edu]

On Fri, 5 Jan 1996 Dinogeorge@aol.com wrote:

> In a message dated 96-01-05 13:55:52 EST, pharrinj@PLU.edu writes:
> 
> >Also, has anyone renamed the weird-looking "_Albertosaurus_" yet?  I mean 
> >the one with the low, rectangular orbital horn, big teeth, shallow jaw, 
> >and rectangular skull, represented by several good specimens (I don't 
> >have the designations with me, but if I can get my hands on my copy of 
> >_PDW_...).  To me it looks less similar to the type of _A. 
> >libratus_ than does _Daspletosaurus_ or _Dinotyrannus_, so it needs a new 
> >generic title (and certainly a new trivial name; no way is it _A.
> libratus_).
> >
> >
> 
> Actually, this morph ("big-toothed gorgo" as Bakker calls it) has much in
> common with the type specimen of _Gorgosaurus libratus_, whose skull is
> mashed but shows similar large maxillary teeth. The thing is, no way is
> _Gorgosaurus_ referable to _Albertosaurus_. (At least one worker thinks
> _Albertosaurus_ is a _nomen dubium_, by the way.)
> 

Ah, yes.  As I recall, the type species of _Albertosaurus_ was the 
badly-preserved _A. sarcophagus_, correct?  However, Paul (1988) writes 
that the type skull of _G./A. libratus_ is of the daspletosaur-like 
morph, indicating that it is the more primitive, big-toothed form that 
needs a new name.  As I have never seen the specimens personally, 
however, I defer to those more in-the-know.  At any rate, either the 
big-toothed form or the daspletosaur-like forms (the rest of _A. 
libratus_, along with _A. arctunguis_--possibly referable to 
_Dinotyrannus_?) need a new appellation.