Not to be confused with the sauropod dinosaur Cetiosauriscus.
Cetiosaurus
Temporal range: Bajocian-Bathonian ~170–166 Ma
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Mounted skeleton, Leicester Museum & Art Gallery
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Clade:
Dinosauria
Clade:
Saurischia
Clade:
†Sauropodomorpha
Clade:
†Sauropoda
Family:
†Cetiosauridae
Subfamily:
†Cetiosaurinae Lydekker, 1888
Genus:
†Cetiosaurus Owen, 1841
Species:
†C. oxoniensis
Binomial name
†Cetiosaurus oxoniensis
Phillips, 1871
Cetiosaurus (/ˌsiːtioʊˈsɔːrəs,ˌsiːʃi-/)[1] meaning 'whale lizard', from the Greek keteios/κήτειος meaning 'sea monster' (later, 'whale') and sauros/σαυρος meaning 'lizard', is a genus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic Period, living about 168 million years ago in what is now Britain.
Cetiosaurus was in 1842 the first sauropod from which bones were described and is the most complete sauropod found in England. It was so named because its describer, Sir Richard Owen, supposed it was a marine creature, initially an extremely large crocodile, and did not recognise it for a land-dwelling dinosaur. Because of the early description many species would be named in the genus, eventually eighteen of them. Most of these have now been placed in other genera or are understood to be dubious names, based on poor fossil material. The last is true also of the original type species, Cetiosaurus medius, and so C. oxoniensis was officially made the new type species in 2014. C. oxoniensis is based on three more or less complete specimens, discovered from 1868 onwards. Together they contain most of the bones, with the exception of the skull.
Cetiosaurus oxoniensis was a quadrupedal, long-necked, small-headed herbivore. It had a shorter tail and neck than most sauropods. The forelimbs on the other hand, were relatively long. C. oxoniensis is estimated to have been about 16–18 metres (52–59 ft) long and to have weighed roughly 11 tonnes (12 short tons).
^"Cetiosaurus". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
named four additional Cetiosaurus species: Cetiosaurus brevis, "the short one"; Cetiosaurus brachyurus, "the short-tailed"; Cetiosaurus medius, "the medium-sized"...
related to Cetiosaurus or Pelorosaurus. He then gave it the name Ischyrosaurus in 1874, reiterating its close relationship to Cetiosaurus oxoniensis,...
confusing. In 1842, Richard Owen named several species of Cetiosaurus. Among them was Cetiosaurus brevis, based on several specimens from the early Cretaceous...
specimen to be too different from Cetiosaurus, warranting its own genus, which he named Cetiosauriscus, meaning "Cetiosaurus-like". Cetiosauriscus leedsi was...
unknown large reptile. Cetiosaurus was known from slightly better, but still scrappy remains. Owen thought at the time that Cetiosaurus was a giant marine...
humerocristatus, was described in 1874 by John Hulke as a species of Cetiosaurus and was noted as being similar to that of Gigantosaurus. The specific...
studies have found that it may represent a natural clade. Alongside Cetiosaurus from the Middle Jurassic of Britain, other taxa recently assigned to...
well-known sauropod genus, Cetiosaurus. Richard Lydekker formalized this view in a roundabout way in 1890, by assigning Cetiosaurus oxoniensis to Cardiodon...
has also preserved a well-preserved specimen of the sauropod dinosaur Cetiosaurus oxienensis at Great Casterton, currently on display at Leicester Museum...
the genera Iguanodon, Hypsilophodon, and Hadrosaurus, in addition to Cetiosaurus and tentatively Stenopelix. The term Ornithopoda was erected by Othniel...
vertebra. In the middle and cervical caudals of Apatosaurus, Camarasaurus, Cetiosaurus and Haplocanthosaurus, the intraprezygapophyseal lamina is separate from...
the least inclusive group containing sauropodomorphs (represented by Cetiosaurus) and theropods (represented by Neornithes). Any saurischian that diverged...
thought to have been made by Megalosaurus and possibly also some left by Cetiosaurus. There are replicas of some of these footprints, set across the lawn...
Patagosaurus was identified as a relative of Cetiosaurus in the family Cetiosauridae. It can be distinguished from Cetiosaurus, a similar genus, by features of the...
species as well as the British Pelorosaurus. He also noted this feature in Cetiosaurus, where it was not as strongly pronounced as in Brachiosaurus and Pelorosaurus...
sauropod, Cetiosaurus, in 1841. Due to the fragmentary evidence, he originally believed it to be a type of massive crocodile. Cetiosaurus has at times...
Bathonian of Britain include the large theropod Megalosaurus, the sauropod Cetiosaurus, as well as indeterminate ornithischians and maniraptorans. A diverse...
back to the Bathonian (Middle Jurassic). Including those of dinosaurs Cetiosaurus, Megalosaurus and Cruxicheiros as well as the Tritylodontid Stereognathus...
species as well as the British Pelorosaurus. He also noted this feature in Cetiosaurus, where it was not as strongly pronounced as in Brachiosaurus and Pelorosaurus...
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