''Gigantosaurus'' () is a dubious genus of sauropod

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

from the

Late Jurassic The Late Jurassic is the third epoch of the Jurassic Period, and it spans the geologic time from 163.5 ± 1.0 to 145.0 ± 0.8 million years ago (Ma), which is preserved in Upper Jurassic strata.Owen 1987. In European lithostratigraphy, the name ...

Kimmeridge Clay Formation The Kimmeridge Clay is a sedimentary deposit of fossiliferous marine clay which is of Late Jurassic to lowermost Cretaceous age and occurs in southern and eastern England and in the North Sea. This rock formation is the major source rock for Nort ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...

, ''Gigantosaurus megalonyx'', was named and described by

Harry Govier Seeley Harry Govier Seeley (18 February 1839 – 8 January 1909) was a British paleontologist. Early life Seeley was born in London on 18 February 1839, the second son of Richard Hovill Seeley, a goldsmith, and his second wife Mary Govier. When his fat ...

in 1869. Its

syntype In biological nomenclature, a syntype is any one of two or more biological types that is listed in a description of a taxon where no holotype was designated. Precise definitions of this and related terms for types have been established as part of ...

series consists of several separately discovered sauropod bones found in

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

, including two caudal (tail) vertebrae (CAMSM J.29477 and CAMSM J.29478), the distal end of a

tibia The tibia (; ), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outside of the tibia); it connects ...

(CAMSM J.29483), a cast of the right

radius In classical geometry, a radius ( : radii) of a circle or sphere is any of the line segments from its center to its perimeter, and in more modern usage, it is also their length. The name comes from the latin ''radius'', meaning ray but also the ...

(CAMSM J.29482), a cast of

phalanx The phalanx ( grc, φάλαγξ; plural phalanxes or phalanges, , ) was a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar pole weapons. The term is particularly ...

(CAMSM J.29479) and an

osteoderm Osteoderms are bony deposits forming scales, plates, or other structures based in the dermis. Osteoderms are found in many groups of extant and extinct reptiles and amphibians, including lizards, crocodilians, frogs, temnospondyls (extinc ...

(CAMSM J.29481). It was synonymised to ''

Ornithopsis ''Ornithopsis'' (meaning "bird-likeness") was a medium-sized Early Cretaceous sauropod dinosaur, from England. The type species, which is the only species seen as valid today, is ''O. hulkei''. History of discovery Gideon Algernon Mantell descr ...

humerocristatus'' by

Richard Lydekker Richard Lydekker (; 25 July 1849 – 16 April 1915) was an English naturalist, geologist and writer of numerous books on natural history. Biography Richard Lydekker was born at Tavistock Square in London. His father was Gerard Wolfe Lydekker, ...

in 1888Lydekker, R. (1888). ''Catalogue of the Fossil Reptilia and Amphibia in the British Museum (Natural History). Part I. Containing the Orders Ornithosauria, Crocodilia, Dinosauria, Squamata, Rhynchocephalia, and Proterosauria.'' British Museum (Natural History):London, 1-309. and to ''

Pelorosaurus ''Pelorosaurus'' ( ; meaning "monstrous lizard") is a genus of titanosauriform sauropod dinosaur. Remains referred to ''Pelorosaurus'' date from the Early Cretaceous period, about 140-125 million years ago, and have been found in England and Po ...

'' by Friedrich von Huene in 1909. Today it is considered a '' nomen dubium''. Because of these references

Eberhard Fraas Eberhard Fraas (26 June 1862 – 6 March 1915) was a German scientist, geologist and paleontologist. He worked as a curator at the Stuttgarter Naturaliensammlung and discovered the dinosaurs of the Tendaguru formation in then German East Afri ...

incorrectly assumed in 1908 the name was available for other species and he used it, despite it being preoccupied, for African material totally unrelated to the British finds.Fraas, E. (1908), "Ostafrikanische dinosaurier". ''Palaeontographica'', 55:105-1 As a result, the name ''Gigantosaurus'' factored into the convoluted taxonomic history of the African dinosaurs ''

Barosaurus ''Barosaurus'' ( ) was a giant, long-tailed, long-necked, plant-eating sauropod dinosaur closely related to the more familiar ''Diplodocus''. Remains have been found in the Morrison Formation from the Upper Jurassic Period of Utah and South Da ...

'', ''

Tornieria ''Tornieria'' ("for Tornier") is a genus of diplodocid sauropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic in Lindi Region of Tanzania. It has a convoluted taxonomic history. Discovery and naming In 1907, German paleontologist Eberhard Fraas who wa ...

'', and ''

Janenschia ''Janenschia'' (named after Werner Janensch) is a large herbivorous sauropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Tendaguru Formation of Lindi Region, Tanzania around 155 million years ago. Discovery and naming ''Janenschia'' has had a convolut ...

''. A discussion of this can be found in the main ''

'' article.

References

Sauropods Kimmeridgian life Late Jurassic dinosaurs of Europe Jurassic England Fossils of England Fossil taxa described in 1869 Taxa named by Harry Seeley Nomina dubia {{Sauropodomorph-stub