RE: OLD ORNITHOMIMOSAURS

["Thomas R. Holtz, Jr." <tholtz@geol.umd.edu>]

> From: owner-dinosaur@usc.edu [mailto:owner-dinosaur@usc.edu]On Behalf Of
> Timothy Williams
>
> Tom Holtz wrote:
>
> >If memory
> >serves, _Shuvosaurus_ fell among or just "inside" the coelophysoid-grade
> >theropods.
>
> The _Shuvosaurus_ skull might belong to the postcranium named
> _Gojirasaurus_
> (I think somebody may have suggested this before, so it's not an original
> idea of mine.)  True, the _Shuvo_ skull is edentulous, and a tooth was
> associated with the _Gojirasaurus_ specimen, but it's pounds to
> peanuts that
> the tooth may belong to another animal (like the critter that was
> munching
> on the carcass, a la Teratosauridae.)

Well, I suppose it is possible, but:

The type of _Shuvosaurus_ is from a much smaller animal than _Gorjirasaurus_
(although it could be from a  juvenile, I suppose) and they are from
different, although roughly contemporary, units: _Gojirasaurus_ from the
Bull Canyon Formation of the Chinle Group (or Bull Canyon Member of the
Chinle Formation: choose your stratigraphic nomenclature...) of New Mexico,
while _Shuvosaurus_ is from the Dockum of Texas.

                Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
                Vertebrate Paleontologist
Department of Geology           Director, Earth, Life & Time Program
University of Maryland          College Park Scholars
                College Park, MD  20742
http://www.geol.umd.edu/~tholtz/tholtz.htm
http://www.geol.umd.edu/~jmerck/eltsite
Phone:  301-405-4084    Email:  tholtz@geol.umd.edu
Fax (Geol):  301-314-9661       Fax (CPS-ELT): 301-405-0796