''Morinosaurus'' (meaning " Morini lizard", for an ancient people of northern France) was a genus of

sauropod Sauropoda (), whose members are known as sauropods (; from '' sauro-'' + '' -pod'', 'lizard-footed'), is a clade of saurischian ('lizard-hipped') dinosaurs. Sauropods had very long necks, long tails, small heads (relative to the rest of their bo ...

dinosaur from an unnamed

formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondary ...

of Kimmeridgian-age

Upper 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 ...

rocks from Boulogne-sur-Mer, Départment du Pas-de-Calais, France. It is an obscure tooth genus sometimes referred to the Lower Cretaceous English wastebasket taxon '' Pelorosaurus''.

History and taxonomy

The

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

paleontologist H. E. Sauvage based this genus on a single worn tooth, apparently now lost, which he compared to those of '' Hypselosaurus''.Sauvage, H.E. (1874). Memoire sur les dinosauriens et les crocodiliens des terrains jurassiques de Boulogne-sur-Mer. ''Mémoires de la Société Géologique de France'', second series. 10:1-58. rench/ref> Oddly, despite illustrations of the tooth, and the implications of comparing it to a titanosaur with narrow-crowned teeth, it was included as a synonym of '' Pelorosaurus'' in two major reviews. 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 p. 1-87. '' Pelorosaurus'', being a putative brachiosaurid, is assumed to have had broad-crowned teeth. Age, however, was not an issue, because it was referred to the possible ''Pelorosaurus'' species ''P. manseli'' (=" Ischyrosaurus"), which was also from the

(the question of whether "Ischyrosaurus" or any Jurassic species should be included in ''Pelorosaurus'' at all is another issue). The most recent review considers it to be a ''

nomen dubium In binomial nomenclature, a ''nomen dubium'' (Latin for "doubtful name", plural ''nomina dubia'') is a scientific name that is of unknown or doubtful application. Zoology In case of a ''nomen dubium'' it may be impossible to determine whether a s ...

'' without further comment.Upchurch, P.M., Barrett, P.M., and Dodson, P. (2004). Sauropoda. In: Weishampel, D.B., Dodson, P., and Osmólska, H. (eds.). ''The Dinosauria'' (2nd edition). University of California Press:Berkeley 259-322. Sauvage also suggested that a partial right

humerus The humerus (; ) is a long bone in the arm that runs from the shoulder to the elbow. It connects the scapula and the two bones of the lower arm, the radius and ulna, and consists of three sections. The humeral upper extremity consists of a roun ...

belonged to the

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Ty ...

individual.

Paleobiology

''Morinosaurus'' would have been a large, quadrupedal

herbivore A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthpart ...

. Having titanosaur-like teeth may suggest more titanosaurian- or diplodocoid-like feeding habits, but this is speculative. The tooth crown was 50 mm (1.97 im) tall and had a cross-section of .

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2107254 Sauropods Kimmeridgian life Late Jurassic dinosaurs of Europe Jurassic France Fossils of France Fossil taxa described in 1874 Taxa named by Henri Émile Sauvage Nomina dubia