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Eustreptospondylus

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Dinosaurs

           iEustreptospondylus

                        Fossil range: Middle Jurassic

   Eustreptospondylus head in the Oxford University Museum of Natural
   History.
   Eustreptospondylus head in the Oxford University Museum of Natural
   History.

                             Conservation status

   Extinct (fossil)
                       Scientific classification

   Kingdom:    Animalia
   Phylum:     Chordata
   Class:      Sauropsida
   Superorder: Dinosauria
   Order:      Saurischia
   Suborder:   Theropoda
   Family:     Megalosauridae
   Subfamily:  Eustreptospondylinae
   Genus:      Eustreptospondylus
   Species:    E. oxoniensis

                                Binomial name

   Eustreptospondylus oxoniensis
   Walker, 1964

   Eustreptospondylus ("well-curved vertebra", in reference to the
   arrangement of the spine in the original fossil) was a genus of
   megalosaurid dinosaurs from the Callovian stage of the Middle Jurassic
   period (164.7-161.2 million years ago) in southern England, at a time
   when Europe was a series of scattered islands (due to tectonic movement
   at the time which raised the sea-bed and flooded the lowland).
   Eustreptospondylus is thought to have been between 5-7 meters long
   (17-23 feet) and around 2 meters tall (6 feet 6 in). It was
   carnivorous, bipedal and had a stiffened tail. It was a typical
   theropod, with powerful hind limbs, erect posture and small forelimbs.

History

   Eustreptospondylus was described originally by Sir Richard Owen, in
   1841, as a new species of Megalosaurus ("M. cuvieri"). This specimen,
   found in a brickpit in the Oxford Clay, north of Oxford, England, has
   since been lost but its description, when compared to 're-discovered'
   material, makes it likely that it was indeed from the species
   Eustreptospondylus oxoniensis. Eustreptospondylus had also, prior to
   Walker's redescription in 1964, been assigned to the species
   Streptospondylus cuvieri. In 2000, Rauhut found that only minor
   differences in the hip bones make Eustreptospondylus different from a
   previously known megalosaur called Magnosaurus and, in 2003, he
   proposed that they should be the same genus (which would make the full
   species name Magnosaurus oxoniensis).

In popular culture

   Eustreptospondylus was featured in episode 3 of BBC's Walking with
   Dinosaurs, "Cruel Sea".
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eustreptospondylus"
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   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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