Re: New Paper

[Tim Williams <twilliams_alpha@hotmail.com>]

Rahul Daryanani wrote:


> I guess you're right. :-) Since A. fragillmus'  bones are lost, we can only 
> compare Cope's old drawings with A. altus' remains. But Cope's drawings 
> were pretty detailed and good aren't they (unlike Bruhathkayosaurus' 
> drawings, LOL), so we could come to a more or less solid conclusion.

Yes, exactly.  It's only because the original illustrations of _Amphicoelias 
fragillimus_ are of such good quality that the species can be diagnosed, 
despite the loss of the type material.  The illustrations of 
_Bruhathkayosaurus_ represent the opposite end of the spectrum.

> Looks like Ken did that, meaning that if, a big if here, his theory is 
> correct, then A. altus is the well
> 'normal' species of Amphicoelias. That means that the giant 60 m one is an 
> abnormal species. If that's true, Amphicoelias isn't in the list of the 
> largest dinosaurs.

Ken was saying that _fragillimus_ is distinct enough from _altus_ (the type 
species for _Amphicoelias_) to probably warrant its own genus.  So you are 
right: if _fragillimus_ is not included in _Amphicoelias_, then 
_Amphicoelias_ is not on the list of the largest known dinosaurs (depending 
on what is meant by "largest").  _A. altus_ is certainly impressive, but 
it's not in the same league as _fragillimus_.  Also, it should be remembered 
that "largest" is a property of individuals, so the _fragillimus_ could be 
an exceptionally large individual for its species.  The sample size is not 
great for either species.  (A second specimen for _A. altus_ was mentioned 
some time ago at SVP, but AFAIK it hasn't yet been described.)

What worries me is that some maverick taxonomist(s) may get wind of _A. 
fragillimus_ being in a separate genus from _A. altus_, and take the 
opportunity to unilaterally name a new sauropod genus.  This kind of thing 
has happened before.  In the case of _fragillimus, this would be sad given 
Ken's hard work.

Cheers

Tim

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