Re: Datousaurus

["Tim Williams" <T.Williams@cclru.randwick.unsw.edu.au>]

> Thank you all for your replies to my query regarding the Euhelopodidae.  
> What has become of _Datousaurus_, _Rhoetosaurus_, and any other 
> "shunosaurids" I'm not thinking of

_Datousaurus_ is probably a euhelopodid, although it lacks the extra-
long neck of some other euhelopodids (like _Omei_, _Euhelopus_, 
_Nuro_, _Mamenchi_) and (so far) no tail-club.  The skull of _Datou_ 
is euhelopodid- like, and the chevrons are forked.  _Datou_ is 
possibly a basal euhelopodid.  I wouldn't regard it as a cetiosaurid.

_Rhoetosaurus_ - well, according to Upchurch, the original paper by 
Longman on this sauropod (written some time in the 1920's) alluded to 
forked chevrons in the tail of _Rhoeto_.  It may be a euhelopodid.  
Upchurch regards it as Neosauropoda _incertae sedis_.

There are a couple of other Chinese sauropods of Early/Middle 
Jurassic age that have been allied with _Shunosaurus_ - like 
_Kunmingosaurus_, _Protognathosaurus_, and _Sanpasaurus_.  But 
they're all known from pretty scrappy material, and I couldn't begin 
to guess what they are. 

Finally, Eric Buffetaut referred _Phuwiangosaurus_ from the Early 
Cretaceous of Thailand to the Euhelopodidae.  It's teeth are more 
slender than _Euhelopus_.