Calamosaurus

''Calamosaurus'' (meaning "reed lizard") was a genus of small theropod dinosaur from the Barremian-age Lower Cretaceous Wessex Formation of the Isle of Wight, England. It is based on two cervical vertebrae (BMNH R901), collected by Reverend William Fox.

History and taxonomy

Richard Lydekker came across these bones when cataloguing the Fox collection and named them ''Calamospondylus foxi'', noting their similarity to those of ''Coelurus''.Lydekker. R. (1889). On a coelurid dinosaur from the Wealden. ''Geological Magazine'' 6:119-121. Unfortunately, ''Calamospondylus'' had already been coined in 1866 (ironically by Reverend Fox himself, the very man honored in Lydekker's species name).Fox, W.D. in Anonymous. (1866) Another Wealden reptile. ''Athenaeum'' 2014:740. Lydekker renamed it in 1891 to its present title.Lydekker. R. (1891). On certain ornithosaurian and dinosaurian remains. ''Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London'' 47:41-44. He also at this time provisionally referred to it the right tibia NHMUK R.186, which was identified by Naish et al. (2001) as belonging to a basal coelurosaurian like a compsognathid, and has recently been referred to Ornithomimosauria by Allain et al. (2014).Naish, D., Hutt, S., and Martill, D.M. (2001). Saurischian dinosaurs 2: theropods. In: Martill, D.M., and Naish, D. (eds.). ''Dinosaurs of the Isle of Wight.'' The Palaeontological Association:London, 242-309.

Because of its sparse remains, it has received little attention. Often, it has been synonymized with ''Calamospondylus'' as part of a long, confusing taxonomic tangle,Swinton, W.E. (1936). The dinosaurs of the Isle of Wight. ''Proceedings of the Geologists' Association'' 47(3):204-220.Romer, A.S. (1956). ''Osteology of the Reptiles.'' University of Chicago Press:Chicago, 1-772. Steel, R. (1970). Part 14. Saurischia. ''Handbuch der Paläoherpetologie/Encyclopedia of Paleoherpetology.'' Part 14. Gustav Fischer Verlag:Stuttgart, 1-87. although there is no comparable material between the two genera. Modern reviews have regarded it as a dubious theropod,Norman, D.B. (1990). Problematic theropoda: "coelurosaurs". In: Weishampel, D.B., Dodson, P., and Osmólska, H. (eds.). ''The Dinosauria''. University of California Press:Berkeley, 280-305. .Holtz Jr., T.R., Molnar, R.E., and Currie, P.J. (2004). Basal Tetanurae. In: Weishampel, D.B., Dodson, P., and Osmólska, H. (eds.). ''The Dinosauria'' (second edition). University of California Press:Berkeley, 71-110. . although potentially a valid coelurosaurian.

In 2002 Paul Turner found a dorsal vertebra near Grange Chine on the Isle of Wight. An associated partial tibia and metatarsal fragment were subsequently discovered by Oliver Mattsson and referred to ''Calamosaurus''.Naish, D. 2011. Theropod dinosaurs. In Batten, D. J. (ed.) English Wealden Fossils. The Palaeontological Association (London), pp. 526–559. Another specimen referred to ''Calamosaurus'' was collected by local fossil hunter Kai Bailey in 2014. Both specimens are on display at the Dinosaur Expeditions, Conservation and Palaeoart Centre near Brighstone, Isle of Wight.

A neck vertebra of a ''Calamosaurus'' was found near Chilton Chine on the Isle of Wight by local fossil hunter Dave Badman. The newly discovered vertebra has gone on display at the Dinosaur Isle Museum in Sandown, Isle of Wight.

Paleobiology

As a possible basal coelurosaur, ''Calamosaurus'' would have been a small, agile, bipedal carnivore. Naish ''et al.'' (2001) estimate the living animal would have been around long, with a small head given the build of the neck vertebrae.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1826727

Prehistoric coelurosaurs
Barremian life
Early Cretaceous dinosaurs of Europe
Cretaceous England
Fossils of England
Fossil taxa described in 1891
Taxa named by Richard Lydekker