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Ornithopsis

Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, 125 Ma

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Lectotype vertebra NHMUK R28632
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Suborder: †Sauropodomorpha
Clade: †Sauropoda
Clade: †Titanosauriformes
Genus: Ornithopsis

Seeley, 1870

Species: O. hulkei
Binomial name
Ornithopsis hulkei

Seeley, 1870

Synonyms
  • Bothriospondylus magnus
    Owen, 1875
  • Chondrosteosaurus magnus
    (Owen, 1875) Owen, 1876

Ornithopsis (meaning "bird-likeness") was a medium-sized Early Cretaceous sauropod dinosaur, from England.

History of discovery[]

Lectotype dorsal vertebra in anterior view, as illustrated in 1875.

The type species, Ornithopsis hulkei, was named and described by Harry Govier Seeley in 1870. The type consisted of two dorsal vertebrae: NHMUK R.2239, found in the Hastings Group of East Sussex, and NHMUK R.28632 found on the Isle of Wight in the Wessex Formation dating from the Barremian. The genus name is derived from Greek ὄρνις (ornis), "bird", en ὄψις (opsis), "face" or "likeness", a reference to the fact that Seeley considered the animal to be an intermediate form bridging the gap between pterosaurs, birds and dinosaurs. The specific name honours John Whitaker Hulke.

The Ornithopsis hulkei holotype is basically a centrum lacking the neural spine. The vertebra is heavily pneumatised, filled with large cavities, camellae. It is narrow, tall, has a ridge on the underside, is opisthocoelous and has a posteriorly placed deep subtriangular pleurocoel over two thirds of its length. These features are compatible with a placement within the Titanosauriformes

Gallery[]

Ornithopsis/Gallery

Species[]

Referred vertebrae

  • O. hulkei Seeley 1870 (type)
  • O. eucamerotus Hulke 1882 - nomen dubium
  • O. leedsii Hulke 1887 = Cetiosaurus leedsi (Hulke 1887) Woodward 1905 = Cetiosauriscus leedsii (Hulke 1887) von Huene 1927 = nomen dubium; indeterminate beyond Eusauropod
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