Megalosaurus, BUCKLAND, 1824

Benson, Roger B. J., 2010, A description of Megalosaurus bucklandii (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Bathonian of the UK and the relationships of Middle Jurassic theropods, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 158 (4), pp. 882-935 : 913

publication ID

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.2009.00569.x

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10545497

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/604C1154-FF86-614B-52A3-FA32FBC7FDFF

treatment provided by

Valdenar (2021-08-31 20:29:10, last updated 2024-01-21 11:49:08)

scientific name

Megalosaurus
status

 

PALAEOBIOLOGY OF MEGALOSAURUS

Megalosaurus is one of the largest Middle Jurassic theropods known. The best preserved femur (BMNH 31806) is 805 mm long, compared with 543 mm for Piatnitzkysaurus (PVL 4073). Many other Middle Jurassic theropods, such as Condorraptor ( Rauhut, 2005) , Gasosaurus ( Dong & Tang, 1985) , Poekilopleuron ( Allain & Chure, 2002) and Xuanhanosaurus ( Dong, 1984) , were also ‘medium’-sized. BMNH 31806 has a minimum circumference of 302 mm. This indicates a body mass of around 943 kg, following the equations of Anderson, Hall-Martin & Russell (1985), although this equation tends to underestimate body mass relative to three-dimensional modelling tech- niques, such as that of Henderson (1999): 7224 kg for Tyrannosaurus rex relative to 4500 kg estimated by Anderson et al. (1985).

Megalosaurus was well ossified relative to other large-bodied tetanurans. This is indicated by the rugose maxillary interdental plates, fused and overgrown scapulocoracoid suture and longitudinal striae on the ischium and hindlimb bones. It also has a relatively robust forearm ( Table 2). These factors may indicate that Megalosaurus was a stout, muscular animal. However, the hindlimb was not as robust as that of Torvosaurus ( Table 4).

Allain R, Chure DJ. 2002. Poekilopleuron bucklandii, the theropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) of Normandy. Palaeontology 45: 1107 - 1121.

Anderson JF, Hall-Martin A, Russell DA. 1985. Long-bone circumference and weight in mammals, birds and dinosaurs. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society of London 207: 53 - 61.

Dong Z. 1984. [A new theropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of Sichuan Basin]. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 22: 213 - 218 (in Chinese with English abstract).

Dong Z, Tang Z. 1985. [A new mid-Jurassic theropod (Gasosaurus constructus gen. et sp. nov.) from Dashanpu, Zigong, Sichuan Province, China]. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 23: 77 - 83 (in Chinese with English summary).

Henderson DM. 1999. Estimating the masses and centers of mass of extinct animals by 3 - D mathematical slicing. Paleobiology 25: 88 - 106.

Rauhut OWM. 2005. Osteology and relationships of a new theropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of Patagonia. Palaeontology 48: 87 - 110.

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Reptilia

Order

Saurischia

Family

Megalosauridae