Aepisaurus 3076530 210525503 2008-05-06T08:31:27Z FunkMonk 4280259 {{Taxobox | | name = ''Aepisaurus'' | fossil_range = [[Lower Cretaceous]] | image = Aepisaurus.JPG | image_width = 200px | image_caption = Limb bone of ''Aepisaurus''. | regnum = [[Animal]]ia | phylum = [[Chordate|Chordata]] | classis = [[Sauropsid]]a | superordo = [[Dinosaur]]ia | ordo = [[Saurischia]] | subordo = [[Sauropodomorpha]] | infraordo = [[Sauropoda]] | familia = unknown | genus = '''''Aepisaurus''''' | genus_authority = [[Paul Gervais|Gervais]], 1852 | subdivision_ranks = [[Species]] | subdivision = * ''A. elephantinus'' <small>Gervais, 1852 ([[Type (zoology)|type]])</small> }} '''''Aepisaurus''''' ({{pronEng|ˌiːpɨˈsɔrəs}}; derived from the [[Ancient Greek|Greek]]: ''αιπεινος'' - 'lofty/high' and ''σαυρυς'' - 'lizard', i.e. "lofty lizard") was a [[genus]] of [[sauropod]] [[dinosaur]] from the [[Albian]]-age [[Lower Cretaceous]] [[Grès vert]] of [[Vaucluse|Départment du Vaucluse]], [[France]], around 100 million years ago. It is an obscure genus from an unknown family, represented by a single [[humerus]], now lost. Despite its lack of popularity, or perhaps because of it, it has been misspelled several ways in the [[scientific literature]], with multiple dates given to the year of description as well. ==History== [[French people|French]] [[paleontologist]] [[Paul Gervais]] described the new genus based on MNHN 1868-242, a humerus found at [[Mont Ventoux]], near [[Bédoin]]. The bone was 90 cm (35.43 in) long, 33 cm (13 in) wide at the [[proximal]] end, 15 cm (5.91 in) wide in the middle, and 25 cm (9.84 cm) wide at the [[distal]] end. From the same locality, he referred a [[cone (geometry)|conical]] [[tooth]] he thought could belong to a larger second species, and from elsewhere added to ''A.'' sp. (a practice used to denote that the remains belong to a certain genus, but the species is not known) a partial humerus and [[ulna]].<ref name=PG52>Gervais, P. (1852). ''Zoologie et paléontologie française (animaux vertébrés)'' (1st edition). A. Bertrand:Paris, 271 p. [French]</ref> Since the appearance of [[Titanosauridae]], it has typically been referred to that family because the slender humerus resembles that of ''[[Laplatasaurus]]''.<ref name=FVH27>von Huene, F. (1927). Short review of the present knowledge of the Sauropoda. ''Memoirs of the Queensland Museum'' 9(1):121-126.</ref> However, as noted by McIntosh (1990), the bone is also like that of ''[[Camarasaurus]]'' and some [[brachiosaurid]]s.<ref name=JMI90>McIntosh, J.S. (1990). Sauropoda. In: Weishampel, D.B., Dodson, P., and Osmólska, H. (eds.). ''The Dinosauria''. University of California Press:Berkeley 345-401.</ref> Le Loeuff (1993), in his review of [[Europe]]an [[titanosaur]]s, could not locate the [[type specimen]], and found that the illustration of it did not allow it to be placed with any [[sauropod]] group. Based on proportions, it could not be placed with [[camarasaurid]]s or [[titanosaurid]]s.<ref name=JLL93>Le Loeuff, J. (1993). European titanosaurids. ''Revue de Paléobiologie, Volume Spéciale'' 7:105-117.</ref> The additional remains referred to it by Gervais were removed, and in the case of the tooth, probably belonged to a [[crocodilian]].<ref name=JLL93/> Although McIntosh considered the genus to be Sauropoda ''[[incertae sedis]]'' (uncertain placement),<ref name=JMI90/> the latest review agreed with Le Loeuff and listed the genus as a dubious sauropod.<ref name=UBD04>Upchurch, P.M., Barrett, P.M., and Dodson, P. (2004). Sauropoda. In: Weishampel, D.B., Dodson, P., and Osmólska, H. (eds.). ''The Dinosauria'' (2nd edition). University of California Press:Berkeley 259-322.</ref> ==Paleobiology== As a sauropod, ''Aepisaurus'' would have been a large [[quadruped]]al [[herbivore]].<ref name=UBD04/> ==Misspellings and other errata== The date of description is given as 1853 by Glut (1997) and some online sources,<ref name=DFG97>Glut, D.F. (1997). ''Dinosaurs: The Encyclopedia''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. 1076 p.</ref> although [http://paleodb.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?user=Guest&action=displayHomePage the Paleobiology Database] and both editions of ''The Dinosauria'' use 1852.<ref name=JMI90/><ref name=UBD04/> The genus is commonly misspelled ''Aepysaurus''; both editions of ''The Dinosauria'' and a major review use this misspelling.<ref name=JMI90/><ref name=UBD04/><ref name=RS70>Steel, R. (1970). Part 14. Saurischia. ''Handbuch der Paläoherpetologie/Encyclopedia of Paleoherpetology''. Part 14. Gustav Fischer Verlag:Stuttgart p. 1-87.</ref> Increasing the confusion, [[Friedrich von Huene]] once (1932) used ''Aepyosaurus'',<ref name=FVH32>von Huene, F. (1932). ''Die fossile Reptil-Ordnung Saurischia, ihte Entwicklung und Geschichte. Monographien zur Geologie und Palaeontologie'' 1(4). 361 p. [German]</ref> and Glut incorrectly gives the species as ''A. elephantius''.<ref name=DFG97/> ==References== {{portalpar|Dinosaurs}} {{reflist}} [[Category:Cretaceous dinosaurs]] [[Category:Dinosaurs of Europe]] [[Category:Nomina dubia]] [[Category:Sauropods]] [[de:Aepisaurus]] [[es:Aepisaurus]] [[fr:Aepisaurus]] [[it:Aepisaurus elephantinus]] [[pl:Epizaur]] [[zh:高龙]]