Atlascopcosaurus

• Victoria, Australia ( Otway Group)

• Atlascopcosaurus loadsi

Atlascopcosaurus is a dubious ( doubtful ) species of bird Beck dinosaur ( Ornithischia ) from the group of ornithopods. She is known only by the fragment of an upper jaw that comes from the so-called " dinosaur cave " in the Australian state of Victoria and on the Lower Cretaceous (Upper Aptian to Lower Albian ) is dated. Atlascopcosaurus described in 1989 by Thomas Rich and Patricia Vickers - Rich scientifically for the first time; only way is Atlascopcosaurus loadsi. Since the genus of related genera can not accurately define the unique anatomical features, it is now run as a noun dubium ( genus of doubtful validity ).

Material and features

In the single Fund ( holotype, NMV P166409 copy number ) is a fragment of the left upper jaw ( maxilla ) with an unerupted and three unerupted molars. Another left upper jaw and lower jaw fragments of - - the beginning of the genus other findings were attributed to the allocation of these findings to Atlascopcosaurus but was recently rejected.

In its first description Thomas Rich marginalized and Patricia Vickers - Rich ( 1989) the genus on the basis of characteristics of the teeth of other then-known genera from: So, these researchers gave for example, that the crowns of the upper jaw drop to the front, so its highest point near the back of the teeth is located. But it is now known that these features were available and thus not unique to Atlascopcosaurus in various other genres.

System

Initially Atlascopcosaurus has been described as a representative of the Hypsilophodontidae, a group of small, bipedal herbivores within the ornithopods. Today the Hypsilophodontidae regarded as paraphyletic, so do not represent natural group dar. Atlascopcosaurus is now classified as an original representative of ornithopods with unclear relationships. Federico Agnolin (2010) noted that the jaw fragment found similarities with the genera Gasparinisaura and Anabisetia shows - a possible closer relationship with these genera, however, can only be verified on the basis of other fossils.

Fund history and naming

The fossil was found along with 85 other bone fragments in about 400 feet of water in the so-called " dinosaur cave " in Queensland, Australia. Were Allows the excavations by the Swedish Atlas Copco Group, presented which required mining equipment. The fossils come from sediments of former river beds; lithostratigraphically they belong to the Otway Group.

While the generic name is named after the Atlas Copco Group, the second part of the species name honors William Loads, the chief executive of Atlas Copco at the time of excavation.

Documents

• Bird Beck dinosaur
• Ornithischia