RE: Details on Capitalsaurus (revised)

["Tracy L. Ford" <dino.hunter@home.com>]

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-dinosaur@usc.edu [mailto:owner-dinosaur@usc.edu]On Behalf Of
Mickey_Mortimer11
Sent: Monday, January 28, 2002 1:59 PM
To: dinosaur@usc.edu
Subject: Details on Capitalsaurus (revised)

Tracy Ford wrote-

> Three cheers!  "Capitalsaurus" as been designated as the Official Dinosaur
> of D.C.
>
> To commemorate this special occasion, everyone should go and find the
> crappiest dinosaur fossil they can lay their hands on, and give it a new
> name.  I just can't get enough of those _nomina nuda_ clogging up dinosaur
> taxonomy.

LOL      I nominate Tichosteus aequifacies state fossil of Colorado!
Ah, "Capitalsaurus".....

"Capitalsaurus" Kranz 1998
"C." potens (Lull 1911)
= Creosaurus potens Lull 1911
= Dryptosaurus potens Gilmore 1921
Etymology- "powerful capital lizard", as it was found in Washington DC, the
capital of the United States.
Aptian, Early Cretaceous
Arundel Formation, Maryland, USA
Holotype- (USNM 3049) (7-10 m) proximal caudal centrum (140 mm)
Diagnosis- proximal caudal centra slightly opisthocoelous; proximal caudal
centra with single ventral keel.
Description-

AH, say what?!
Reference- Kranz, P. M., 1998. Mostly Dinosaurs: A Review of the Vertebrates
of the Potomac Group (Aptian Arundel Formation), USA, in Lucas, Kirkland and
Estep, eds., 1998: 235-238.
No where in the article does Kranz make Capitalsaurus = Creosaurus potens
nor does he formally name Capitalsaurus in the article. No appendix, or a
footnote.
When he refers to Capitalsaurus he puts it in quotes "Capitalsaurus"; as in
Large carnivore, "Capitalsaurus, (type of evidence), vertebra; Large
carnivore (possibly "Capitalsaurus"), teeth and various isolated post
crania.
Don't start supposing and miss interpreting things to make something its
not. You have to be careful; this will confuse people even more.
And yes I agree the name sucks, almost as much as the specimen it is
referred to. Why they didn't use a better represented animal like Astrodon
or Pleurocoelus I"ll never know. Wait, they couldn't because Texas already
has Pleurocoelus as its state fossil! Does the government know what
Pleurocoelus is better than the paleontologist? We don't even really know
what it is. It is based on Glen Rose fossil material. I can't wait till the
type fossil from Texas is either renamed or referred to a different
better-known sauropod.
Ah, government screw ups, you gotta love em for it :)
Tracy L. Ford
P. O. Box 1171
Poway Ca  92074