OHMDENOSAURUS
a sauropod dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of Germany.
Pronunciation: orm-DEN-o-SOR-us
Meaning: Ohmden lizard
Author/s: Wild (
1978)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Discovery Chart Position: #262
Ohmdenosaurus liasicus
(Ohmden lizard from the Early Jurassic)Etymology
Ohmdenosaurus is derived from "Ohmden" (a village in Baden-Württemberg—one of Germany's 16 states—close to the quarry where the remains may have been found) and the Greek "sauros" (lizard).
The
species epithet,
liasicus, refers to the "Lias" (an old name for the Early Jurassic period).
Discovery
The remains of
Ohmdenosaurus were discovered in the Posidonienschiefer (Posidonia Shale), a marine formation near the village of Ohmden, Holzmaden town, Germany, which is famous for its Lagerstätten containing exceptionally well-preserved, complete skeletons of fossilized fish. However, the remains of
Ohmdenosaurus were badly weathered which suggests it died on land and only later was it washed many kilometres out to sea. It was found in one of the old Ohmden quarries which were refilled long ago, so it's exact locality is a bit of a mystery.
The
holotype (which lacked an inventory number) consists of a disarticulated right shin, ankle and heel, that were initially identified as the remains of a type of marine reptile called a plesiosaur.
Estimations
Timeline:
Era: Mesozoic
Epoch: Early Jurassic
Stage: Toarcian
Age range: 182-178 mya
Stats:
Est. max. length: 4 meters
Est. max. hip height: ?
Est. max. weight: ?
Diet: Herbivore
References
• Wild R (1978) "Ein Sauropoden-Rest (Reptilia, Saurischia) aus dem Posidonienschiefer (Lias, Toarcium) von Holzmaden" [A new sauropod (Reptilia, Saurischia) from the Posidonienschiefer (Lias, Toarcian) of Holzmaden].
Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde, Serie B (Geologie und Paläontologie}, 41: 1-15.
• Upchurch, Barrett, Dodson (2004) Chapter Thirteen "Sauropoda". In Weishampel, Dodson and Osmolska "
The Dinosauria: Second Edition".
• Rauhut OWM, Holwerda FM and Furrer H (2020) "A derived sauropodiform dinosaur and other sauropodomorph material from the Late Triassic of Canton Schaffhausen, Switzerland".
Swiss Journal of Geosciences, 113(1): 8. DOI: 10.1186/s00015-020-00360-8.
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To cite this page:
Atkinson, L.
"
OHMDENOSAURUS :: from DinoChecker's dinosaur archive".
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