Pronunciation: yoo-STREP-to-SPON-di-luss
Meaning: True Streptospondylus
Author/s: Walker (1964)
Synonyms: Magnosaurus oxoniensis
First Discovery: Chipping Norton, England
Discovery Chart Position: #211
Eustreptospondylus oxoniensis
In the early-mid part of the 19th century, there was only a loose system of dinosaur classification, so most carnivorous dinosaurs were lumped with Megalosaurus — the very first dinosaur discovered in Oxford, England — and palaeontologists have been striving to clean up the mess ever since. Some carnivorous dinosaurs weren't so lucky and ended up in Streptospondylus: the critter that angels fear to prod. Eustreptospondylus has dabbled with both. May the gods guide our pen!
Update coming soon.
Update coming soon.
(True Streptospondylus from Oxford)Etymology
Eustreptospondylus is derived from the Greek "eu" (good, well, or in this case, true), "streptos" (turned, reversed) and "spondylos" (vertebra). Its remains were initially assigned to Streptospondylus cuveri, a second species of Streptospondylus which was long thought to be a crocodilian, but with vertebrae that were reversed compared to those of crocodiles, being opisthocoelous (convex in front and concave behind) rather than procoelous (vice versa). Eustreptospondylus can be literally read as "well-turned vertebra" but the intended meaning was "true Streptospondylus".
Discovery
The only remains of Eustreptospondylus were discovered by workers at the Summertown Brick Pit in the Stewartby Member of the Oxford Clay Formation, near Oxford, England, in 1870. The holotype (OUM J13558, housed at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History) is a partial skull and associated nearly complete skeleton.
