Thunder-Lizards

[jay nair <sappororaptor@yahoo.com>]

Thunder-Lizards
The Sauropodomorph Dinosaurs

By Edited by Virginia Tidwell and Kenneth Carpenter
(Indiana University Press, 2005).

Finally my copy arrived. :) The indiana uni press
website lists the table of contents but not the
specific page numbers, so for those who are
considering buying the book or want to know the length
of the individual papers, then see below; Haven't got
around to reading the papers yet, just skimmed through
them, so my descriptions below are far from complete.

Pp i-xii contents, contributors etc
I. Sauropods Old and New
Pp 1-37    Postcranial Anatomy of Referred Specimens
of the Sauropodomorph Dinosaur Melanorosaurus from the
Upper Triassic of South Africa by Peter M. Galton,
Jacques Van Heerden, and Adam M. Yates
This is a detailed osteological treatment of one set
of Melanorosaurus material. They regard Melanorosaurus
as Sauropodomorpha incertae sedis. The other set,
Wellman's ''Euskelosaurus'' skeleton, is mentioned to
be the topic of another paper in preparation by these
authors.

38-77  The Genus Barosaurus Marsh (Sauropoda,
Diplodocidae) by John S. McIntosh
A detailed historical and osteological treatment.
McIntosh also touches upon Gigantosaurus africanus,
noting that it needs further study.

78-114   Reassessment of the Early Cretaceous Sauropod
Astrodon johnsoni Leidy 1865 (Titanosauriformes) by
Kenneth Carpenter and Virginia Tidwell.
Detailed taxonomic review, very interesting reading.
They find the various species of Astrodon and
Pleurocoelus likely belong to one taxon, Astrodon
having priority. Astrodon is refered to
Titanosauriformes incertae sedis. An updated skeltal
reconstruction is also presented.

115-137    Osteology of Ampelosaurus atacis
(Titanosauria) from Southern France by Jean Le Loeuff.
Finally, after 10 years, we have more info on
Ampelosaurus. More than 500 bones have been found,
some of which are described here. There isn't much in
the way of phylogenetic comparison, so it's safe to
assume Le Loeuff intends to publish further on this
taxon in the future.

II. Sauropods Young to Old
141-153     New Juvenile Sauropod Material from
Western Colorado, and the Record of Juvenile Sauropods
from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation by John R.
Foster
A description of Apatosaurus and Camarasaurus material

154-179    New Adult Specimens of Camarasaurus lentus
Highlight Ontogenetic Variation within the Species by
Takehito Ikejiri, Virginia Tidwell, and David L.
Trexler
No book on suropods would be complete without one
paper on Camarasaurus. This is the 2nd of 4 papers on
Camarasaurus. Some clarification is made about the
species taxonomy of C. lentus and C. supremus

180-186   Age-Related Characteristics Found in a
Partial Pelvis of Camarasaurus by Virginia Tidwell,
Kenneth Stadtman, and Allen Shaw

187-196    Ontogenetic Variation and Isometric Growth
in the Forelimb of the Early Cretaceous Sauropod
Venenosaurus by Virginia Tidwell and D. Ray Wilhite

III. Body Parts: Morphology and Biomechanics
199-211    Neuroanatomy and Dentition of Camarasaurus
lentus by Sankar Chatterjee and Zhong Zheng
Supplements Madsen, McIntosh & Berman's monograph on
the Camarasaurus skull.

212-232   Neck Posture, Dentition, and Feeding
Strategies in Jurassic Sauropod Dinosaurs by Kent A.
Stevens and J. Michael Parrish
Includes heaps of DinoMorph illustrations as found on
Kent's site
http://www.cs.uoregon.edu/~kent/DinoMorph.htm

233-247    Neck Posture of Sauropods Determined Using
Radiological Imaging to Reveal Three-Dimensional
Structure of Cervical Vertebrae by David S. Berman and
Bruce M. Rothschild

248-267    Evolution of the Hyposphene-Hypanthrum
Complex within Sauropoda by Sebasti·n ApesteguÌa
Wish i could find time to read this one. Interesting
detailed paper with lots of drawings. ApesteguÌa
discuses the absense of the hyposphene-hypanthrum
complex in titanosaurs. He thinks maybe to do with
increased movement range in titanosaurs. Also notes
that Histriasaurus isn't a Rebbachisaurid based on the
hyposphene-hypanthrum complex

268-301   Variation in the Appendicular Skeleton of
North American Sauropod Dinosaurs: Taxonomic
Implications by D. Ray Wilhite
Variation in Apatosaurus, Diplodocus & Camarasaurus.
Another Camarasaurus paper.

302-320    First Articulated Manus of Diplodocus
carnegii by Malcolm W. Bedell Jr. and David L. Trexler

321-345    Evolution of the Titanosaur Metacarpus by
Sebasti·n ApesteguÌa

346-380    Pes Anatomy in Sauropod Dinosaurs:
Implications for Functional Morphology, Evolution, and
Phylogeny by Matthew F. Bonnan

381-392   Sauropod Stress Fractures as Clues to
Activity by Bruce M. Rothschild and Ralph E. Molnar

IV. Global Record of Sauropods
395- 429   Between Gondwana and Laurasia: Cretaceous
Sauropods in an Intraoceanic Carbonate Platform by
Fabio M. Dalla Vecchia
More pics of Histriasaurus. Dorsals are high and
complex, not unlike dicraeosaurids and
rebbachisaurids. Dalla Vecchia also discusses
characteristics shared between Histriasaurus with
dicraeosaurids & rebbachisaurids.

430-453    Sauropods of Patagonia: Systematic Update
and Notes on Global Sauropod Evolution by Leonardo
Salgado and Rodolfo A. Coria

454-465    Observations on Cretaceous Sauropods from
Australia by Ralph E. Molnar and Steven W. Salisbury

466-489    Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Nests,
Eggs, and Dung Mass (Coprolites) of Sauropods
(Titanosaurs) from India by D. M. Mohabey

491-495   Index

Additional comments on these papers are welcome

Sappororaptor


                
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