Misplaced Pages

#446553

25-467: Titanosaurus ( / t aɪ ˌ t æ n ə ˈ s ɔːr ə s / ; lit.   ' titanic lizard ' ) is a dubious genus of sauropod dinosaurs , first described by Richard Lydekker in 1877. It is known from the Maastrichtian ( Upper Cretaceous ) Lameta Formation of India . Titanosaurus , literally meaning 'titanic lizard', was named after the mythological Titans . Titanosaurus

50-403: A nomen dubium, it may be impossible to determine whether a specimen belongs to that group or not. This may happen if the original type series (i. e. holotype , isotype , syntype or paratype ) is lost or destroyed. The zoological and botanical codes allow for a new type specimen, or neotype , to be chosen in this case. A name may also be considered a nomen dubium if its name-bearing type

75-474: A nominal species-group taxon cannot be determined from its existing name-bearing type (i.e. its name is a nomen dubium ), and stability or universality are threatened thereby, the author may request the Commission to set aside under its plenary power [Art. 81] the existing name-bearing type and designate a neotype. For example, the crocodile -like archosaurian reptile Parasuchus hislopi Lydekker , 1885

100-744: A volunteer with the garrison of Roorkee against the mutineers and was awarded the Indian Mutiny Medal for Special Service. While at Roorkee, he studied parts of the Narmada Valley and Bundelkhand (in 1854–55, 1856–57). He worked on the geology of the Lower Himalayas and the Siwalik Beds. Along with his brother Joseph G. Medlicott , he was able to determine the separation of the Cambrian Vindhyan region from

125-584: Is credited with having suggested the name Gondwana. He used the term to describe stratigraphy of a mostly Permian formation in India. The geologist Edward Suess noted the widespread Glossopteris fossil flora and called all the regions "Gondwana-Land" and included India, Madagascar and Africa but not Australia. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1877 and won the Wollaston Medal of

150-444: Is distinguished by a square cross-section, the lack of a trough on the underside and elongated proportions. These features are also found in other titanosaurs, although not found in India – the latter, however, was insufficient reason for Upchurch & Wilson not to speak of a nomen dubium . The holotype vertebrae of T. blanfordi were also missing for years and were rediscovered in 2012 by Dhananjay Mohabey and Subhasis Sengupta at

175-482: Is fragmentary or lacking important diagnostic features (this is often the case for species known only as fossils). To preserve stability of names, the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature allows a new type specimen, or neotype, to be chosen for a nomen dubium in this case. 75.5. Replacement of unidentifiable name-bearing type by a neotype. When an author considers that the taxonomic identity of

200-453: Is of more frequent use. Such names may be proposed for rejection . Henry Benedict Medlicott Henry Benedict Medlicott , FRS (3 August 1829 – 6 April 1905) was an Irish geologist who worked in India . He was a coauthor of a text on the geology of India and is credited with the coining of the term "Gondwana" which was later used to create the concept of Gondwanaland . He

225-524: Is why no official inventory number of the GSI had been assigned to it. Part of the fossils that Lydekker assigned to the type specimen of T. indicus , that formed a series of syntypes , was a 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) long femur that had been excavated at the same location in 1871 or 1872 by Henry Benedict Medlicott - specimen GSI K22/754. In 1933 this was reassigned by Charles Alfred Matley and Friedrich von Huene to Antarctosaurus septentrionalis , which

250-532: The East India Company army. He was one among many explorations for fossils initially carried out by army personnel, medical doctors and priests who chanced upon them just by being “ fairly literate and mobile at the time ”. He stumbled across the vertebrae on Bara Simla Hill near a British Army gun carriage workshop while searching for petrified wood. Sleeman, employed by the Bengal Army , regarded

275-746: The Geology of India with William Thomas Blanford in 1879 and edited works in the Paleontologica Indica . His writing style was considered intemperate by his contemporaries but he began a policy to allow his subordinates free expression in print, a move that caused resentment among the staff. He was hostile to the promotion of native Indian geologists. He retired in April 1887 and lived at Clifton Bristol where he continued to research his interests in philosophy and theology. He died on 6 April 1905, leaving behind his wife, two sons and two daughters. He

SECTION 10

#1732782593447

300-763: The Gondwana. He later worked in various parts of the country such as South Rewa, Bihar, Assam, Khasi Hills, Rajputana, Kashmir, the Satpura ranges and the Garo Hills. On 1 April 1876 he succeeded Dr Oldham to head the Department of Geology and was posted in Calcutta. The position was changed from Superintendent to Director in 1885. Medlicott began to isolate himself from social life and began to live an ascetic life, walking barefoot and editing papers. He wrote Manual of

325-541: The bones as curiosities. He gave two vertebral pieces to surgeon G. G. Spilsbury, who had a practice in Japalpur and who also excavated a bone himself. Spilsbury sent the fossils in 1832 to the antiquarian James Prinsep in Calcutta , who realised that they were fossilised bones and then sent them back to Sleeman. In 1862, Thomas Oldman , the first director of the newly established Geological Survey of India, transferred

350-591: The collections had been carried out for generations. He therefore started the Study of Late Cretaceous Tetrapod fossils from Lameta Formation project with support from the University of Michigan , with one of the main goals of locating lost specimens. In this context, he and Subhasis Sengupta recovered one of the holotype vertebra on 25 April 2012. It turned out to be in a batch of fossils that had been left behind by Lydekker in 1878 that had been lost up until then, which

375-403: The end of the twentieth century; in 2010 Matthew Carrano therefore established a cast based on illustrations Lydekker made in 1877, as a replacement plastotype, with the inventory number NHMUK 40867. However, that turned out to be a bit premature. In the early twenty-first century, Indian paleontologist Dhananjay Mohabey understood that such specimens were lost only because no serious inventory of

400-562: The original type specimen with the proposed neotype. In bacteriological nomenclature , nomina dubia may be placed on the list of rejected names by the Judicial Commission. The meaning of these names is uncertain. Other categories of names that may be treated in this way (rule 56a) are: In botanical nomenclature the phrase nomen dubium has no status, although it is informally used for names whose application has become confusing. In this regard, its synonym nomen ambiguum

425-852: The same location as the holotype of T. indicus . Wilson and Upchurch (2003) treated Titanosaurus as a nomen dubium ("dubious name") because they noted that the original Titanosaurus specimens cannot be distinguished from those of related animals. As the type genus of Titanosauria , Titanosaurus at times became a wastebasket taxon for a number of titanosaurs, including those not just from India but also southern Europe , Laos , and South America . Only two among these, however, are currently considered species of Titanosaurus : T. indicus and T. blandfordi , both of which are considered nomina dubia. Other species formerly referred to this genus include: [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Nomen dubium In case of

450-453: The two fossils, making up specimen GSI IM K27 / 501, the second, smaller vertebra was split off by von Huene in 1929 and assigned to Titanosaurus araukanicus (now Laplatasaurus ). Upchurch & Wilson concluded in their 2003 revision that this assignment was unfounded, although there is indeed no evidence beyond their origin that the two vertebrae have anything to do with each other. The large vertebra, strongly procoel, convex in front,

475-561: The vertebrae from Japalpur to Calcutta and added them to the collection of the Indian Museum . There, the bones were studied by the Survey's supervisor, Hugh Falconer , who concluded that they were reptilian bones. After Falconer's death, in 1877, Richard Lydekker described the vertebrae as a new species of reptile known as Titanosaurus indicus . The known remains of T. indicus were generally considered to be lost and untraceable by

500-768: Was an expert in French and was acquainted with the works of the French geologists. He joined the Geological Survey of Ireland as a general assistant in October 1851 working under Joseph Beete Jukes (1811–1869) and later with the British Geological Survey in Wiltshire before resigning to join the geological survey of India in March 1854. On the recommendation of Sir Henry De la Beche (1796–1855), he

525-660: Was born in Loughrea , County Galway , Ireland , the son of the Church of Ireland Rector of Loughrea, Samuel Medlicott (1796–1858) and his wife Charlotte (c.1814-1884), daughter of Henry Benedict Dolphin , C. B. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin under Thomas Oldham (1816–1875) as well as in France, Guernsey, and Dublin. He obtained a BA in 1850 with diploma in honours in the School of Civil Engineering and an MA in 1870. He

SECTION 20

#1732782593447

550-422: Was described based on a premaxillary rostrum (part of the snout), but this is no longer sufficient to distinguish Parasuchus from its close relatives. This made the name Parasuchus hislopi a nomen dubium . In 2001 a paleontologist proposed that a new type specimen, a complete skeleton, be designated. The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature considered the case and agreed in 2003 to replace

575-443: Was given the post of geology professor at Thomason College of Civil Engineering at Roorkee. His brothers Joseph G. Medlicott (d. 1866) and Samuel (c.1831–1889) worked in the geological survey of Ireland while Joseph later worked in India. From 15 August 1854 he worked at Roorkee, making trips with Oldham. He married Louisa, daughter of Reverend Daniel Henry Maunsell, at Landour near Mussoorie on 27 October 1857. In 1857 he served as

600-403: Was moved to the new genus Jainosaurus in 1995. Between 1860 and 1870, geologist William Thomas Blanford had found two sauropod middle caudal vertebrae near Pisdura (one vertebra, GSI 2195, became the type specimen). In 1879, they were named by Lydekker as a second species of Titanosaurus , T. Blanfordi , which according to current rules should be written as Titanosaurus blanfordi . Of

625-915: Was the first Indian dinosaur to be named and properly described, having been recorded for the first time in 1877. The type species, T. indicus , was named in 1877, and the second species, T. blanfordi , was named in 1879. Both species were named by Richard Lydekker . T. indicus and T. blanfordi are 70 million years old. A report in PLOS One published by Dhiman et al. (2023) reported that 92 titanosaur clutches were found in Dhar District , Madhya Pradesh , India . There were 256 eggs in three clutch patterns (viz. circular, combination, linear) that are assignable to six oospecies , which were likely laid by Titanosaurus . The holotype vertebrae of Titanosaurus indicus were discovered during an exploration to Jabalpur in 1828 by Capt William Henry Sleeman of

#446553