Neosodon
Encyclopedia
Neosodon was a genus
of sauropod dinosaur
from the Late Tithonian
-age Upper Jurassic Sables et Grès à Trigonia gribosa of Départment du Pas-de-Calais, France
. It has never been formally given a species name, but is often seen as N. praecursor, which actually comes from a different animal. Often in the past, it had been assigned to the wastebasket taxon Pelorosaurus
, but restudy has suggested that it could be related to Turiasaurus
, a roughly-contemporaneous giant Spanish
sauropod.
, and neglected to give it a species name. He thought that it belonged to a theropod like Megalosaurus
.
Sauvage synonymized it with his tooth species Iguanodon
praecursor, which by this time had become mixed up with Edward Drinker Cope
's roughly contemporaneous American
Morrison Formation
genus Caulodon (now a synonym of Camarasaurus
). However, the two are not based on the same type
, as "I". praecursor comes from slightly older rocks: the same unnamed Kimmeridgian
formation as Morinosaurus
. Earlier reviews (Romer, 1956; Steel, 1970) accepted it as a synonym of Pelorosaurus, and considered it a possible brachiosaurid.
In the 1990s, French researchers published on new camarasaurid bones from the same formation. At first, Buffetaut and Martin (1993) suggested that they belonged to Neosodon praecursor, but Le Loeuff et al. (1996) later rejected this, as Neosodon is based only on a tooth, which did not overlap the new material. The latest review accepted both Neosodon and "Iguanodon" praecursor as dubious sauropods. However, Royo-Torres et al. (2006), in their description of Turiasaurus
, noted that this tooth was similar to those of their genus and suggested that it could be a turiasaur
.
-like or spatula
te in shape. The owner would have been a large, quadruped
al herbivore
.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of sauropod dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
from the Late Tithonian
Tithonian
In the geologic timescale the Tithonian is the latest age of the Late Jurassic epoch or the uppermost stage of the Upper Jurassic series. It spans the time between 150.8 ± 4 Ma and 145.5 ± 4 Ma...
-age Upper Jurassic Sables et Grès à Trigonia gribosa of Départment du Pas-de-Calais, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. It has never been formally given a species name, but is often seen as N. praecursor, which actually comes from a different animal. Often in the past, it had been assigned to the wastebasket taxon Pelorosaurus
Pelorosaurus
Pelorosaurus was a huge plant-eating dinosaur. Pelorosaurus was one of the first sauropod dinosaurs ever discovered. Pelorosaurus lived during the Early Cretaceous period, about 138-112 million years ago. Fossils referred to Pelorosaurus have been found in England and Portugal...
, but restudy has suggested that it could be related to Turiasaurus
Turiasaurus
Turiasaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary...
, a roughly-contemporaneous giant Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
sauropod.
History and Taxonomy
Moussaye named this genus for a large, broken, worn tooth found in Wilmille, near Boulogne-sur-MerBoulogne-sur-Mer
-Road:* Metropolitan bus services are operated by the TCRB* Coach services to Calais and Dunkerque* A16 motorway-Rail:* The main railway station is Gare de Boulogne-Ville and located in the south of the city....
, and neglected to give it a species name. He thought that it belonged to a theropod like Megalosaurus
Megalosaurus
Megalosaurus is a genus of large meat-eating theropod dinosaurs of the Middle Jurassic period of Europe...
.
Sauvage synonymized it with his tooth species Iguanodon
Iguanodon
Iguanodon is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur that lived roughly halfway between the first of the swift bipedal hypsilophodontids and the ornithopods' culmination in the duck-billed dinosaurs...
praecursor, which by this time had become mixed up with Edward Drinker Cope
Edward Drinker Cope
Edward Drinker Cope was an American paleontologist and comparative anatomist, as well as a noted herpetologist and ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested in science; he published his first scientific paper at the age of nineteen...
's roughly contemporaneous American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Morrison Formation
Morrison Formation
The Morrison Formation is a distinctive sequence of Late Jurassic sedimentary rock that is found in the western United States, which has been the most fertile source of dinosaur fossils in North America. It is composed of mudstone, sandstone, siltstone and limestone and is light grey, greenish...
genus Caulodon (now a synonym of Camarasaurus
Camarasaurus
Camarasaurus meaning 'chambered lizard', referring to the hollow chambers in its vertebrae was a genus of quadrupedal, herbivorous dinosaurs. It was the most common of the giant sauropods to be found in North America...
). However, the two are not based on the same type
Holotype
A holotype is a single physical example of an organism, known to have been used when the species was formally described. It is either the single such physical example or one of several such, but explicitly designated as the holotype...
, as "I". praecursor comes from slightly older rocks: the same unnamed Kimmeridgian
Kimmeridgian
In the geologic timescale, the Kimmeridgian is an age or stage in the Late or Upper Jurassic epoch or series. It spans the time between 155.7 ± 4 Ma and 150.8 ± 4 Ma . The Kimmeridgian follows the Oxfordian and precedes the Tithonian....
formation as Morinosaurus
Morinosaurus
Morinosaurus was a genus of sauropod dinosaur from an unnamed formation of Kimmeridgian-age Upper Jurassic rocks from Boulogne-sur-Mer, Départment du Pas-de-Calais, France...
. Earlier reviews (Romer, 1956; Steel, 1970) accepted it as a synonym of Pelorosaurus, and considered it a possible brachiosaurid.
In the 1990s, French researchers published on new camarasaurid bones from the same formation. At first, Buffetaut and Martin (1993) suggested that they belonged to Neosodon praecursor, but Le Loeuff et al. (1996) later rejected this, as Neosodon is based only on a tooth, which did not overlap the new material. The latest review accepted both Neosodon and "Iguanodon" praecursor as dubious sauropods. However, Royo-Torres et al. (2006), in their description of Turiasaurus
Turiasaurus
Turiasaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary...
, noted that this tooth was similar to those of their genus and suggested that it could be a turiasaur
Turiasauria
Turiasauria is an unranked clade of sauropod dinosaurs, named for the genus Turiasaurus, a gigantic eusauropod from southwestern Europe. The clade also includes two other known members, Galveosaurus and Losillasaurus. All three taxa thus far referred to Turiasauria have come from the Villar del...
.
Paleobiology
The tooth is large (60 mm [2.36 in] tall and a cross-section of 35 by 20 mm [1.38 by 0.79 in] in its incomplete state, estimated at 80 mm [3.15 in] tall if complete) and spearSpear
A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head.The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with bamboo spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastened to the shaft, such as flint, obsidian, iron, steel or...
-like or spatula
Spatula
The term spatula is used to refer to various small implements with a broad, flat, flexible blade used to mix, spread and lift materials including foods, drugs, plaster and paints...
te in shape. The owner would have been a large, quadruped
Quadruped
Quadrupedalism is a form of land animal locomotion using four limbs or legs. An animal or machine that usually moves in a quadrupedal manner is known as a quadruped, meaning "four feet"...
al herbivore
Herbivore
Herbivores are organisms that are anatomically and physiologically adapted to eat plant-based foods. Herbivory is a form of consumption in which an organism principally eats autotrophs such as plants, algae and photosynthesizing bacteria. More generally, organisms that feed on autotrophs in...
.
External links
- Dinosaurs of France
- Paleobiology Database entry; see Taxonomic History for some idea of the confusion regarding "I." praecursor