[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index][Subject Index][Author Index]
Re: New sauropod paper
> Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 17:14:38 -0500
> From: Tim Williams <twilliams_alpha@hotmail.com>
>
> My apologies if this has already been posted. I haven't seen or
> read this paper yet. I find the abstract tantalizing, given that it
> suggests the coexistence of two sauropods in Brazil, one of which is
> related to _Rayososaurus_ (a rebbachisaurid), whereas the other is
> related to _"Rebbachisaurus" tamesnensis_. AFAIK, the latter is a
> more primitive grade of sauropod, akin to _Jobaria_.
The Sereno et al. 1999 paper that raised both _Jobaria_ and the much
more interesting _Nigersaurus_ strongly implies that _Jobaria_ IS the
"_Rebbachisaurus_" _tamesnensis_ material, merely renamed. If that's
so, then it should of course have been called _Jobaria tamesnensis_
rather than inventing the new species name _tiguidensis_.
Here's what it says on p. 1342:
The sauropod from the Tiouraren Formation, Jobaria
tiguidensis gen. nov. sp. nov. (5), is the most
abundant terrestrial vertebrate in the formation; no
remains of any other large-bodied herbivore were
recovered.
And note 5, on p. 1345, says:
Fragmentary sauropod remains from the Tiouraren
Formation were initially described as a new species,
Rebbachisaurus tamesnensis [A. F. de Lapparent,
Mem. Soc. Geol. France 88A, 1 (1960)]. Type material,
however, was not designated, and no diagnostic
features were mentioned (3). Lapparent considered the
Tiouraren sauropod to be a camarasaurid; elsewhere it
has been referred to the Diplodocidae [J. S.
McIntosh, in The Dinosauria (Univ. of California
Press, Berkeley, CA, 1990), pp. 345Â 401]. Etymology:
Jobar, Jobar ( Tamacheck); ia, pertaining to (Greek);
tiguidi, Tiguidi ( Tamacheck); ensis, from (Latin).
Named after the mythical creature "Jobar," to whom
local Touregs had attributed the exposed bones, and
after the Falaise de Tiguidi, a cliff near the base of
which lie the horizons yielding all of its remains.
I don't know what to make of this. The _implication_ is that
_J. tiguidensis_ was raised on the "_R._" _tamesnensis_ materal, but
it's not at all explicit.
_/|_ ___________________________________________________________________
/o ) \/ Mike Taylor <mike@miketaylor.org.uk> http://www.miketaylor.org.uk
)_v__/\ Zenophobia, n. -- the irrational fear of convergent sequences.