Splitting Lumps

Many individuals that appear to be closely related to other taxa are often lumped together or split apart for one reason or another. Often these species are different in ways that could possibly be accounted for by natural variation, but there are times when the differences are significant for multiple reasons. One of the reasons that Abydosaurus mcintoshi is significant and different from other sauropods is that it is one of very few North American sauropods that is known almost exclusively from cranial material. A later brachiosaurid, the teeth of Abydosaurus and its nose are different from other brachiosaurids including Giraffittan. Described in 2010 from Dinosaur National Monument materials, the type material of Abydosaurus consists of a nearly complete skull and mandible with the first four neck vertebrae associated. The remains were found near the Green River and the name refers to the Egyptian city where the head of Osiris was buried.

©Wilson and Whitlock, National Park Service