[D] Saurophaganax maximus [Sa] [Su] [sG] [T]
Describer
Chure, 1995
Time
Jurassic Late Oxfordian Kimmeridgian Tithonian
Classification
Saurischia Theropoda Tetanurae Carnosauria Allosauridae
Diet
Carnivore
Fossilsite
Morrison Formation, Colorado, US
Length
15 meter
Info
Genus - Typespecies - Skull - Sail
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"king of the reptile eaters\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Referred to as \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Saurophagus\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Stovall, 1941, generally considered a nomen nudum, and a preoccupied name. Chure judged the lectotype (a tibia) designated by Hunt and Lucas (1987) to be undiagnostic; therefore, despite the similar type species name, Saurophaganax maximus Chure, 1995 is not intended as a replacement name for Saurophagus maximus Stovall in Hunt and Lucas, 1987, a taxon that cannot be differentiated.
The new generic name was suggested by Ben Creisler and amplifies the meaning of the name in character with Stovall\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s original concept. Once thought to be an allosaur, it was distinghuised by the processes of its neck vertebrae and by the \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"meat cleaver \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"chevrons of its tail vertebrae.
(OMNH 1708) (10.9 m; 3.2 tons) femur (1135 mm) ?(NMMNH P-26083) (9.9 m; 2.6 tons) sacral vertebrae 4 and 5, caudal vertebrae 1-4, chevrons 1-4, ilium, ischia, femur (1.04 m), tibia (910 mm), fibula, pedal phalanges (Williamson and Chure 1996)
Whether this is Allosaurus or not is a subjective decision, though you might as well equate \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Allosaurus\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" with \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Allosauridae\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" if you think so. The type material includes at least two individuals of comparable (and huge) size, along with one/some smaller specimens. The Epanterias specimen was seemingly larger however. NMMNH P-26083 could be Allosaurus or Saurophaganax. [M.Mortimer]
Chure, 1995
Time
Jurassic Late Oxfordian Kimmeridgian Tithonian
Classification
Saurischia Theropoda Tetanurae Carnosauria Allosauridae
Diet
Carnivore
Fossilsite
Morrison Formation, Colorado, US
Length
15 meter
Info
Genus - Typespecies - Skull - Sail
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"king of the reptile eaters\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Referred to as \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Saurophagus\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Stovall, 1941, generally considered a nomen nudum, and a preoccupied name. Chure judged the lectotype (a tibia) designated by Hunt and Lucas (1987) to be undiagnostic; therefore, despite the similar type species name, Saurophaganax maximus Chure, 1995 is not intended as a replacement name for Saurophagus maximus Stovall in Hunt and Lucas, 1987, a taxon that cannot be differentiated.
The new generic name was suggested by Ben Creisler and amplifies the meaning of the name in character with Stovall\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s original concept. Once thought to be an allosaur, it was distinghuised by the processes of its neck vertebrae and by the \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"meat cleaver \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"chevrons of its tail vertebrae.
(OMNH 1708) (10.9 m; 3.2 tons) femur (1135 mm) ?(NMMNH P-26083) (9.9 m; 2.6 tons) sacral vertebrae 4 and 5, caudal vertebrae 1-4, chevrons 1-4, ilium, ischia, femur (1.04 m), tibia (910 mm), fibula, pedal phalanges (Williamson and Chure 1996)
Whether this is Allosaurus or not is a subjective decision, though you might as well equate \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Allosaurus\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" with \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Allosauridae\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" if you think so. The type material includes at least two individuals of comparable (and huge) size, along with one/some smaller specimens. The Epanterias specimen was seemingly larger however. NMMNH P-26083 could be Allosaurus or Saurophaganax. [M.Mortimer]