Monday, December 07, 2015

The Giving of December. Ohmdenosaurus

Ohmdenosaurus is a little known genus of sauropod,‭ ‬and perhaps not surprisingly known by very little remains.‭ ‬These remains have in the past been attributed to the Vulcanosontidae group of sauropods,‭ ‬though this group has also been problematic in its classification in the past,‭ ‬in fact for a time the group fell into disuse after the type genus Vulcanodon could only be confidently assigned to it.‭ ‬It was only with the‭ ‬2004‭ ‬description of the genus Tazoudasaurus that the group has seen a limited resurrection in use.‭ ‬Still,‭ ‬the Ohmdenosaurus remains have been‭ ‬considered to be so indeterminate that they have an uncertain place within this group,‭ ‬and some researchers have even questioned the validity of the genus given that it would be exceedingly difficult to attribute further remains to the genus.‭
       The Ohmdenosaurus fossils were found in a marine deposit,‭ ‬but weathering patterns on the bones seem to suggest that they were washed out to sea as bones,‭ ‬rather than an individual being washed out to sea and then decomposing.‭ ‬The time period that the remains were deposited in has been pinned down as the Toarcian of the Jurassic,‭ ‬something that has been possible due to the presence of other Toarcian aged animals such as the snail Coelodiscus.

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