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The AAPG/Datapages Combined Publications Database
Utah Geological Association
Abstract
A Re-Evaluation of the Dry Mesa Dinosaur Quarry Sauropod Fauna with a Description of Juvenile Sauropod Elements
Abstract
The Dry Mesa Dinosaur Quarry has produced the most diverse Morrison Formation dinosaur assemblage known, possessing twenty-three genera of dinosaurs, eight of which are sauropods. A re-evaluation of the prepared sauropod material identified sixteen individual sauropods belonging to only six genera (two Apatosaurus, two Brachiosaurus, five Camarasaurus, five Diplodocus, one Dystylosaurus, one Supersaurus). No elements positively attributable to Barosaurus were identified, and the holotype dorsal vertebra of Ultrasauros actually belongs to Supersaurus, therefore Ultrasauros macintoshi is a junior synonym of Supersaurus vivianae.
The small size and lack of neural arch fusion in Diplodocus and Camarasaurus vertebrae indicate the presence of juvenile sauropods at Dry Mesa. The relatively large number of juvenile Diplodocus caudal vertebrae indicate shallow ventral excavation, often interpreted as being an apomorphy of Barosaurus, is a variable character controlled partially by ontogeny. Numerous juvenile sauropod elements serve to dispel the myth that all Dry Mesa Dinosaur Quarry sauropods are extremely large, and suggest a nesting site may have been nearby the Quarry.
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