4 - Species determination in sauropod dinosaurs with tentative suggestions for their classification

Summary

Abstract

This paper is divided into two parts. The first sketches sauropod classification, in which vertebral characters play a major role. Six families are recognized: Vulcanodontidae, Cetiosauridae, Brachiosauridae, Camarasauridae, Diplodocidae, and Titanosauridae. The most perplexing question centers about the relationship of the Upper Cretaceous titanosaurids with the other families. The second part seeks, not altogether successfully, general criteria for the separation of sauropod species. Thirty general characters that have proved successful in discussing sauropod taxonomy are presented, and illustrated as they apply to the six firmly established North American Jurassic genera. Species differentiation is discussed in five of the best known species for which adequate material exists.

Introduction

This report consists of two parts, the second of which, dealing with species determination in the Sauropoda, was presented at the Drumheller Conference. In response to a request that a brief discussion of overall sauropod classification be included, the major part of a talk delivered at the AAAS meeting in Missoula, Montana, in June 1985, has been added. Entries of all works referred to in the discussion of classification would swell the bibliography to a size equal to that of the rest of the report and well beyond the scope of this paper. Only those papers specifically cited are included in the references. A comprehensive bibliography is available elsewhere (Chure and Mclntosh 1989).