Hypselospinus
Name:
Hypselospinus
(Highest spined).
Phonetic: Hip-sel-o-spy-nuss.
Named By: David B. Norman - 2010.
Synonyms: Iguanodon fittoni, Wadhurstia.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Ornithischia, Ornithopoda, Iguanodontia.
Species: H. fittoni (type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Roughly estimated about 6 meters long.
Known locations: England, Sussex - Wadhurst
Clay Formation. Possibly Spain.
Time period: Valanginian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Partial post cranial
remains, including sacrum, caudal (tail) vertebrae, left
ilium and teeth.
Hypselospinus
was a genus of ornithopod that was similar to Iguanodon,
so similar
in fact that the holotype remains of the genus were originally named as
a species of Iguanodon, I. fittoni.
These remains were
re-described as a new genus by Norman in 2010, but not long after
another name for the remains was proposed by Carpenter and Ishida.
Iguanodon fittoni was now named as Hypselospinus
and Wadhurstia, but
because first naming has priority in such circumstances, Wadhurstia
became a synonym to Hypselospinus.
The
partial remains of Hypselospinus on their own do
not reveal much about
the life of this dinosaur, but as an iguanodontid a few things can be
assumed by them. Hypselospinus seems to have been
a mid-range sized
ornithopod, that would have probably been primarily quadrupedal,
but still have the ability to be bipedal when it had to, such as
reaching vegetation growing beyond the height that low browsers could
reach.
Further reading
- On the remains and affinities of five genera of Mesozoic reptiles,
Richard Lydekker - 1889.
- A taxonomy of iguanodontians (Dinosauria: Ornithopoda) from
the lower Wealden Group (Cretaceous: Valanginian) of southern
England, David B. Norman - 2010.
- Early and “Middle” Cretaceous Iguanodonts in Time and Space,
K. Carpenter & Y. Ishida - 2010.
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