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]]
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[[it:Aepisaurus elephantinus]]
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