Describer

Marsh, 1879

Time

Jurassic Late Kimmeridgian Tithonian

Classification

Ornithischia Ornithopoda Iguanodontia Camptosauridae

Diet

Herbivore

Fossilsite

Morrison Formation, Colorado, Oklahoma, Utah, Wyoming, US

Fall Under

Camptosaurus

Length

7 meter

Info

Typespecies - Skull

Camptosaurus (Marsh, 1885) = Brachyrophus (Cope, 1878) Cumnoria (Seeley, 1888) Symphyrophus (Cope, 1878)

Camptosaurus > Camptosaurus dispar (Marsh, 1879) = Camptonotus dispar (Marsh, 1879) > Brachyrophus altarkansanus (Cope, 1878) Symphyrophus musculosus (Cope, 1878) Camptosaurus medius (Marsh, 1894) Camptosaurus nanus (Marsh, 1894) Camptosaurus browni (Gilmore, 1909) Camptosaurus prestwichii (Hulke, 1880) = Iguanodon prestwichii (Hulke, 1880)

25-30 articulated skull elements, some with postcrania, approximately 10 partial articulated skeletons juvemile to adult.
Scheetz, R., Weishampel, D., Britt, B., Cloward, K. & Miles, C. (2006) Finally, a virtually complete skull of Camptosaurus dispar. JVP 26(3) Abstracts pp.120

A partially articulated skeleton of Camptosaurus dispar was recently recovered from the Morrison Formation of Bone Cabin West Quarry, Wyoming. The juvenile specimen (femur length = 460 mm, 60% of largest known specimen) is important because it includes the first virtually complete skull of Camptosaurus a skull that differs substantially from previous reconstructions.

Marsh’s long, rectangular skull restoration featured on most Camptosaurus mounts was largely based on a more derived iguanodont skull, referred to Camptosaurus amplus, collected near Colorado Springs, Colorado in 1886. The new Camptosaurus dispar skull shows the skull is triangular in lateral and dorsal aspects, with a wide occiput and a short, pointed snout. Camptosaurus dispar differs from “Camptosaurus amplus” in having a much larger lacrimal that extends along the top of the maxilla, a jugal that lacks a ventrally deflected flange, a short ventral process of the squamosal, a shorter quadrate, and less derived posterior mandible. Although juvenile, this specimen reveals cranial elements that differ significantly from the “Camptosaurus amplus” skull in features that do not reflect ontogenetic status, allying itself more closely to Dryosaurus than to Iguanodon.