Monday, October 05, 2015

The horror of October. Kelmayisaurus

 Kelmayisaurus is a genus of carcharodontosaurid dinosaur that lived in China during the early Cretaceous.‭ ‬Kelmayisaurus is currently only known by partial upper and lower jaws,‭ ‬and because of this the exact size of Kelmayisaurus is still unknown.‭ ‬There are still reports of a second species named K.‭ “‬grandis‭” ‬approaching sizes of up to twenty-two meters long,‭ ‬something that if true would make Kelmayisaurus the largest theropod dinosaur ever.‭ ‬The reality of the matter however is that this claim appeared in a children‭’‬s book and that K.‭ “‬grandis‭” ‬was based upon a single vertebra that modern palaeontologists are certain belongs to a sauropod dinosaur,‭ ‬and not a theropod.‭ ‬This means that K.‭ “‬grandis‭” ‬does not exist,‭ ‬and there is no evidence at all that Kelmayisaurus grew to twenty-two meters in length.
       The only valid species of Kelmayisaurus is the type species K.‭ ‬petrolicus,‭ ‬and as mentioned above the size of this species is indeterminate at the time of writing.‭ ‬The holotype fossils of Kelmayisaurus however have been noted as being similar to the genus Eocarcharia.

No comments: