Saurophaganax is a Carcharodontosaurid: An Abstract (2023)

Written on 5/12/23.

Link:
https://www.academia.edu/101770036/Saurophaganax_is_a_Carcharodontosaurid_An_Abstract

                                  Saurophaganax is a Carcharodontosaurid: An Abstract

Saurophaganax maximus is a carnivorous theropod from the late Jurassic of North America. In the past, the genus has either been listed as a basal allosaurid that was a sister taxon to Allosaurus, or as a species of Allosaurus called Allosaurus maximus. This author proposes a different classification: Saurophaganax was a carcharodontosaurid, and was probably the first member of the clade to inhabit North America. The fossils were found in Quarry 1 in Oklahoma, but were not excavated at once or by professionals. With all due respect to the original excavators, to be as thorough as possible, this author decided to examine every bone individually to see if they belonged to a basal allosaurid or a carcharodontosaurid. OMNH 01135, an atlas, is morphologically similar to Tyrannotitan/Giganotosaurus chubutensis, exhibiting a “V-shaped” morphology. In comparison, the atlas of Allosaurus is linear in profile. The holotype specimen of Saurophaganax, OMNH 01123, is a mid-dorsal neural arch that has two horizontal laminae projecting off of it. This is not documented in Allosaurus. The overall morphology of OMNH 01123 is similar to Tyrannotitan/Giganotosaurus chubutensis’ first dorsal vertebra. Tyrannotitan/Giganotosaurus chubutensis also had an accessory lamina on its second and third dorsal vertebrae. Lusovenator had a lamina on the prezygapophysis on the second caudal vertebra, and a lateral lamina on the mid-posterior caudal vertebrae. Veterupristisaurus exhibited two “V-shaped” spinoprezygapophyseal laminae that are connected to the prezygapophysis, and two short laminae that are connected to the spinoprezygapophyseal laminae, on its caudal vertebrae. Laminae like these are typically not seen in other carnivorous theropod clades, but in carcharodontosaurids they had a wide range of forms and placements on the vertebral column. The mid to distal caudal chevrons (OMNH 01685) are morphologically similar to Acrocanthosaurus’, Meraxes’, and Lusovenator’s, but not Allosaurus’. The ilium (OMNH 01338) resembles Concavenators’, Meraxes’, and Acrocanthosaurus’. The tibia (OMNH 01370) looked similar to Acrocanthosaurus’. OMNH 01708/0112, a femur, had a head pointing upwards and a shaft that was bowed/convex laterally, as seen in many carcharodontosaurid taxa. This is not present in Allosaurus’ femur. OMNH 01425, a partial right pubis, is closer in form to Mapusaurus/Giganotosaurus roseae’s than to Allosaurus’. Previously, this author assigned a partial left pubis (OMNH 01707), and a left pes (OMNH 01708), to possibly belonging to Allosaurus. However, these bones could belong to either Allosaurus or a carcharodontosaurid. Tyrannotitan exhibited a similar morphology in its pubis to OMNH 01707. Therefore, both OMNH 01425 and OMNH 01707 can be assigned to a carcharodontosaurid. OMNH 01708 has a similar morphology to both Lusovenator’s and Meraxes’, with the fourth metatarsal being concave. Currently, a giant humerus (OMNH 01935), and a manual ungual (OMNH 780), don’t seem to exhibit carcharodontosaurid traits so far. They appear characteristically similar to Allosaurus, so they could belong to Allosaurus or to a carcharodontosaurid. This author will keep both possibilities open. In summation, Saurophaganax exhibits numerous skeletal features that could place it within the carcharodontosaurid clade. 

Movie Review: 65.

65 movie poster:

Honestly, when I saw the first trailer to the film 65, I was excited. Last year, I saw the worst film in the Jurassic franchise, Jurassic World Dominion. I thought that 65 was going to add something new to the dinosaur film genre, which has been dominated by the Jurassic Park/World franchise for thirty years now. Then the second trailer came out, which showed clips of what I thought were suppose to be dinosaurs. It looked like the T. rex in the film was quadrupedal... That angered me so much! It made me not go to the theater to see it. About two months later, I found out that the creature in the second trailer was NOT a T. rex, but a crocodylimorph (a large one at that). I did see a clip of what the actual T. rex in the film looked like, but it still looked... Outdated? I found out that during test screenings of the film, people told the filmmakers that the dinosaurs didn't look scary enough. Ugh! I wish we had a film franchise that made dinosaurs look realistic without catering to the "We want scary, non-feathery dinosaurs, not realistic ones!" crowd. Being scary doesn't mean look ugly.

Anyway, how was the film itself? Honestly, the story was good. I was invested. Mills (played by Adam Driver) is a heartbroken father who went on a... Colonizing? Mining? Let's say he is sent on a space-exploration mission by his job which would take him two years away from his wife and daughter. The daughter is sick, so he goes on the gig to get money to help her. However, his ship is hit by an asteroid belt that makes it crash on an unknown planet: Earth, 65 million years in our past! Okay, it should've been 66 but the year 65 Ma is still in the public's mind, I guess... Anyway, Mills and a girl who speaks a different alien language are the only survivors of the crash and have to escape Earth before an asteroid, shaken free after Mill's ship hit the asteroid belt, collides with the Earth. Also, Mills and the girl are from another planet. They're human-looking aliens. Along the way, they run into a bunch of prehistoric creatures that want to turn them into dinner. They eventually survive by finding a rescue pod, and leave Earth before they joined the dinosaurs in being part of the fossil record. That would've been a funny discovery for a paleontologists in the film's universe!

Aside from the outdated design of the dinosaurs, the film was short! It's an hour and thirty five minutes long, but the minutes went by fast. The acting and music was good, and the action was fine. I wish there were more dinosaurs present though. The raptors and crocodylimorphs got most of the screen time, and there was only one scene with two T. rexes in it. Once again, the T. rex has been sidelined in a dinosaur film. It wasn't as bad as Jurassic Park/World's treatment of the T. rex though, so that's a relief. I am happy that they put two T. rexes in the film. That always gives me warm The Lost World Jurassic Park vibes! In total, this film was fine. I would watch it again, despite the lack of dinosaur interactions with the human characters. I feel like this film could've been longer though. 

I do like the fact that the film made other smaller creatures a threat to the humans as much as the dinosaurs were. There's this one scene where an insect gets inside the girl's mouth, and almost makes her choke to death. That reminded me of that Primeval episode where a prehistoric parasite infected people through infected dodos. 

P.S.: I think it would be pretty funny if, in a post-credit scene, a group of paleontologists dug up a T. rex skeleton and finds part of Mills' spaceship next to it. Then they all start freaking out!