Re: Suuwassea (was Re: New Sauropod)

["Patti" <pkv1@erols.com>]

Thanks Mickey and Nick.
Also, Since I was also a part of the first and second teams that discovered
and excavated _Suuwassea_, I have long waited for this day.  Jerry and Peter
did an outstanding job with this paper.  They, as well as not a few others,
were involved with the descriptions of this critter.  (They are all listed
in the Acknowledgements section) You can read all about the "Rattlesnake
Ridge" bones excavated in 1999 and 2000 from _Suuwassea emilieae_  ( Acta
Palaeontologica Polonica 49 (2), 2004: 197-210)  You can access the full
paper at at the link below: http://app.pan.pl/app-current_issue.htm
Remember that you can also see the Montana 1999 & 2000 excavation photos and
illustrations on my website: http://groups.msn.com/DinosaurandFossilDigs

Patricia Kane-Vanni, Esq.
pkv1@erols.com  or paleopatti@hotmail.com


"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions.  Small people
always do that, but really great ones make you feel that you too, can become
great." - Mark Twain
__________________________________
> Jerald D. Harris and Peter Dodson
>
> A new diplodocoid sauropod dinosaur from the Upper Jurassic Morrison
> Formation of Montana, USA
>
>   Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 49 (2), 2004: 197-21

For those who are curious, the genus name _Suuwassea_ is derived from
*suuwassa*, a compound of the Crow (Siouan) words *suu* 'thunder' and
*wassa*
'ancient'.  The compound means 'first thunder heard in spring', but it is
also
an allusion to the terms _Brontosaurus_ and "thunder lizard".  Cool name,
guys!

The species name, _emilieae_, honors the late Emilie deHellebranth, who
funded
the expeditions that recovered the specimen.

At an estimated 14-15 m long, _Suuwassea_ is a relatively small diplodocoid.
The authors entertain the possibility that the northern part of the Morrison
formation may have been home to a distinct paleoecological community,
characterized by smaller sauropod species.

The paper also names a new higher-level taxon, Flagellicaudata ('whip-tailed
ones').  The authors define Flagellicaudata as "[a] node-based taxon
consisting
of the most recent common ancestor of _Dicraeosaurus_ and _Diplodocus_ and
all
of its descendants".  However, it is apparent that they actually mean
"...the
most recent common ancestor of _Dicraeosaurus_, _Diplodocus_, and
_Suuwassea_...", since they refer to _S._ as a member of Flagellicaudata,
even
though their phylogenetic analysis cannot exclude the possibility that _S._
is
the sister to Diplodocidae + Dicraeosauridae.

Nick Pharris
Department of Linguistics
University of Michigan