Callovosaurus

Name: Callovosaurus ‭(‬Callovian lizard‭)‬.
Phonetic: Cal-lo-vo-sore-us.
Named By: Peter M.‭ ‬Galton‭ ‬-‭ ‬1980.
Synonyms: Camptosaurus leedsi.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Ornithischia,‭ ‬Ornithopoda,‭ ‬Dryosauroidea,‭ ‬Dryosauridae.
Species: C.‭ ‬leedsi‭ (‬type‭)‬.
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Uncertain due to lack of remains,‭ ‬but roughly‭ ‬estimated to have been about‭ ‬2.5‭ ‬meters long.
Known locations: England,‭ ‬Cambridgeshire‭ ‬-‭ ‬Oxford Clay Formation.
Time period: Callovian of the Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Almost complete left femur‭ (‬thigh bone‭)‬.‭ ‬A partial tibia‭ (‬shin bone‭) ‬is now also attributed to the genus.




       The holotype specimen of Callovosaurus,‭ ‬an almost complete femur,‭ ‬was first described as a species of Camptosaurus all the way back in‭ ‬1889‭ ‬by Richard Lydekker.‭ ‬By‭ ‬1909‭ ‬doubts were already being cast as to whether or not this bone actually came from an iguanodontid dinosaur.‭ ‬In‭ ‬1980‭ ‬Peter M.‭ ‬Galton took this femur and used it to establish a new genus which we now know as Callovosaurus.
       Callovosaurus is seen as more likely to be a dryosaurid‭ (‬relative of Dryosaurus‭) ‬dinosaur,‭ ‬rather than a large ornithopod like Camptosaurus.‭ ‬However,‭ ‬because the genus is based upon a partial femur,‭ ‬many have questioned its validity as it would be very difficult to assign further fossil remains to this genus with only a partial leg bone to go on.‭ ‬For this reason Callovosaurus is often cited as a dubious dinosaur genus,‭ ‬though a partial tibia has now also been assigned to the genus.
       As a small dryosaurid ornithopod,‭ ‬Callovosaurus would have been a small ornithopod dinosaur that would have browsed upon low growing plants.‭ ‬Callovosaurus would have shared its habitat with other plant eating dinosaurs including sauropods and stegosaurs.

Further reading
-‭ ‬Osteology of the Jurassic reptile Camptosaurus,‭ ‬with a revision of the genus,‭ ‬and description of two new species.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Proceedings of the United States National Museum‭ ‬36:‭ ‬197‭–‬332.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Charles W.‭ ‬Gilmore‭ ‬-‭ ‬1909.
-‭ ‬European Jurassic ornithopod dinosaurs of the families Hypsilophodontidae and Camptosauridae.‭ ‬Neues Jahrbuch f�r Geologie und Pal�ontologie,‭ ‬Abhandlungen‭ ‬160‭(‬1‭)‬:73-95.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Peter M.‭ ‬Galton‭ ‬-‭ ‬1980.
-‭ ‬Callovosaurus leedsi,‭ ‬the earliest dryosaurid dinosaur‭ (‬Ornithischia:‭ ‬Euornithopoda‭) ‬from the Middle Jurassic of England,‭ ‬by Jos� Ignacio Ruiz-Ome�aca,‭ ‬Xabier Pereda Suberbiola‭ & ‬Peter M.‭ ‬Galton.‭ ‬In Horns and Beaks:‭ ‬Ceratopsian and Ornithopod Dinosaurs.‭ ‬Bloomington and Indianapolis:‭ ‬Indiana University Press.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Kenneth Carpenter‭ (‬ed‭) ‬-‭ ‬2007.



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