Allosaurus Lucasi

[Arion]

New species of Allosaurus described from the Tithonian Morrison Formation of Colorado.

https://www.voluminajurassica.org/volumina/article/view/170/150 (pdf free)

A few unusual things about this paper stand out to me. First of all, it refers to Allosaurus "jimmadseni" as a valid species, whereas to my knowledge it still hasn't been properly described yet (does this make authorship Dalman vide Chure, 2000?). Secondly, the diagnosis of the new taxon does not appear to be overly robust. Allosaurus lucasi is referred to as the "type species" in the systematic paleontology section (I get the point trying to be made, but to my knowledge that's not the way to say it). The premaxilla is described as being strongly reduced in length, and the maxilla as "short and deep". Based on the material illustrated, neither appears to be overly well-preserved and I would hesitate to derive those characters from the available material as diagnostic of a new species.

Either way, that's just my take; strikes me as a project that could have used a little more work before publication.

[DD1991]

It's all part of the manuscripting process, where you make grammatical error when drafting a scientific manuscript. Dalman made a mistake by referring to Allosaurus as type species. He also didn't mention the fact that Allosaurus jimmadseni is a nomen ex dissertatione, even though its intended holotype (DINO 11541) is clearly distinct from other Allosaurus species found in the Morrison.

[sseth]

It is an interesting article. I have spent a bit of time in the Morrison and have seen a number of dinosaurs that are of the same species and look very different. Thanks for sharing.

Edited December 17, 2014 by sseth

[Arion]

It's all part of the manuscripting process, where you make grammatical error when drafting a scientific manuscript. Dalman made a mistake by referring to Allosaurus as type species. He also didn't mention the fact that Allosaurus jimmadseni is a nomen ex dissertatione, even though its intended holotype (DINO 11541) is clearly distinct from other Allosaurus species found in the Morrison.

Though theoretically that's the point of peer review and editors, to prevent errors from getting published, especially considering Dalman states in the acknowledgements that reviews significantly improved the quality of the manuscript.