''Marmarospondylus'' ("marble eference_to_the_Forest_Marble_Formation.html" ;"title="Forest_Marble_Formation.html" ;"title="eference to the Forest Marble Formation">eference to the Forest Marble Formation">Forest_Marble_Formation.html" ;"title="eference to the Forest Marble Formation">eference to the Forest Marble Formationvertebra") is a nomen dubium, dubious genus of sauropod dinosaur from Middle Jurassic deposits in the English Midlands. The type species, ''Marmarospondylus robustus'', was described by

Richard Owen Sir Richard Owen (20 July 1804 – 18 December 1892) was an English biologist, comparative anatomist and paleontologist. Owen is generally considered to have been an outstanding naturalist with a remarkable gift for interpreting fossils. Owe ...

as a species of the Late Jurassic genus '' Bothriospondylus'' in 1875. The holotype, NHMUK R.22428, a dorsal, was found in the Bathonian-age

Forest Marble Formation The Forest Marble is a geological formation in England. Part of the Great Oolite Group, it dates to the late Bathonian stage of the Middle Jurassic.Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Middle Jurassic, Europe)." In: Weisham ...

at Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire. Owen himself in an addendum to the same publication coined ''Marmarospondylus'' for ''B. robustus'', presumably due to its being older than ''B. suffossus''. Recent publications have treated ''Marmarospondylus'' as a dubious member of Macronaria.Mannion, P.D., 2010 "A revision of the sauropod dinosaur genus 'Bothriospondylus' with a redescription of the type material of the middle Jurassic form 'B. madagascariensis'", ''Palaeontology'', 53(2): 277–296

References

Macronarians Bathonian genera Middle Jurassic dinosaurs of Europe Jurassic England Fossils of England Fossil taxa described in 1875 Taxa named by Richard Owen Nomina dubia Sauropods of Europe Middle Jurassic sauropods {{Sauropodomorph-stub