Othniel Charles MarshOthniel Charles Marsh (October 29, 1831 – March 18, 1899) was an American professor of paleontology. A prolific fossil collector, Marsh was one of the preeminent paleontologists of the nineteenth century. Among his legacies are the discovery or description of dozens of new dinosaurs—including Stegosaurus and Triceratops—and theories on the origins of birds. He spent his academic career at Yale College and was president of the National Academy of Sciences.
MassospondylusSauropodomorph dinosaur from southern AfricaMassospondylus ( ) is a genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of southern Africa. It was described by Richard Owen in 1854 from remains discovered in South Africa, and is thus one of the first dinosaurs to have been named. The name Massospondylus means 'longer vertebra', alluding to what Owen identified as tail vertebrae; these vertebrae are now known to be from the neck.
DinosaurClade of reptilesBirds are avian dinosaurs, and phylogenetictaxonomy includes over 11,000 extant species in the group Dinosauria.Dinosaurs are a diverse group of warmblooded reptiles of the cladeDinosauria. They existed through most of the Mesozoicera, first appearing early in the Triassicperiod.
East Windsor, ConnecticutEast Windsor is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region. The population was 11,190 at the 2020 census. The town has five villages: Broad Brook, Melrose, Scantic, Warehouse Point and Windsorville.
SauropodomorphaExtinct clade of dinosaursSauropodomorpha ( ; from Greek, meaning "lizard-footed forms") is an extinct clade of saurischian dinosaurs that includes the long-necked, herbivoroussauropods and their ancestral relatives. Early, more basal sauropodomorphs (traditionally termed prosauropods) were bipedal, and the earliest show evidence of omnivorous or carnivorous diets.
Portland FormationThe Portland Formation is a geological formation in Connecticut and Massachusetts in the northeastern United States. It dates back to the Early Jurassic period. The formation consists mainly of sandstone laid down by a series of lakes (in the older half of the formation) and the floodplain of a river (in the younger half).
HettangianSubdivision of the Jurassic according to the ICS, as of 2024.Vertical axis scale: Millions of years agoEtymologyName formalityFormalUsage informationCelestial bodyEarthRegional usageGlobal (ICS)Time scale(s) usedICS Time ScaleDefinitionChronological unitAgeStratigraphic unitStageTime span formalityFormalLower boundary definitionFAD of the AmmonitePsiloceras spelae tirolicum.Lower boundary GSSPKuhjoch section, Karwendel mountains, Northern Calcareous Alps, Austria47°29′02″N11°31′50″E / 47.4839°N 11.5306°E / 47.4839; 11.5306Lower GSSP ratified2010Upper boundary definitionFAD of the Ammonites Vermiceras quantoxense and Vermiceras palmeriUpper boundary GSSPEast Quantoxhead, West Somerset, England, UK51°11′27″N3°14′11″W / 51.1909°N 3.2364°W / 51.1909; -3.2364Upper GSSP ratified2000The Hettangian is the earliest age and lowest stage of the JurassicPeriod of the geologic timescale.
GenusGenus (; pl.: genera) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial species name for each species within the genus. E.g. Panthera leo (lion) and Panthera onca (jaguar) are two species within the genus Panthera.
JurassicThe Jurassic ( juurr-ASS-ik) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system that lasted about 58.3 million years, spanning from the end of the Triassic Period 201.4 Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, 143.1 Ma. The Jurassic constitutes the second and middle period of the Mesozoic Era as well as the eighth period of the Phanerozoic Eon and is named after the Jura Mountains, where limestone strata from the period were first identified.
SinemurianIn the geologic timescale, the Sinemurian is an age and stage in the Early or Lower Jurassic Epoch or Series. It spans the time between 199.5 ±0.3 Ma and 192.9 ±0.3 Ma (million years ago). The Sinemurian is preceded by the Hettangian and is followed by the Pliensbachian. In Europe the Sinemurian age, together with the Hettangian age, saw the deposition of the lower Lias, in Great Britain known as the Blue Lias.
Basal (phylogenetics)In phylogenetics, basal is the direction of the base (or root) of a rooted phylogenetic tree or cladogram. The term may be more strictly applied only to nodes adjacent to the root, or more loosely applied to nodes regarded as being close to the root. Extant taxa that lie on branches connecting directly to the root are not more closely related to the root than any other extant taxa.
Northeastern United StatesOne of the four census regions of the United StatesRegionThe Northeastern United States (also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast) form one of the four census regionsdefined by the United States Census Bureau. Located on the Atlantic coast of North America, the region borders Canada to its north, the Southern United States to its south, the Midwestern United States to its west, and the Atlantic Ocean to its east.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.