Eustreptospondylus oxoniensis

Eustreptospondylus is known from a single disarticulated skeleton of a juvenile or subadult from the marine deposits of the Middle Jurassic Oxford Clay of England. This medium size theropod is the best known megalosaurid from the northern hemisphere, and the second most complete theropod skeleton known from Western Europe (Baryonyx being first). The fact that it was discovered in marine sediments indicate that it may have been a coastal predator whose carcass was washed ashore. Although the estimated length of the juvenile skeleton is 4-5 meters, the adults were probably much larger.

Name

Eustreptospondylus oxoniensis

Authority

Walker, 1964

Meaning of generic name

Well-curved vertebrae

Meaning of specific name

from Oxford [or from Oxford Clay Formation]

Size

Length: 5 m

Remains

Disarticulated skull and postcranial elements.

Age and Distribution

Chipping Norton Formation, Oxford Clay Formation, Oxfordshire, Middle Oxford Clay Formation (Stewartby Member), Buckinghamshire, England.

Classification

Dinosauria Saurischia Theropoda Spinosauroidea Megalosauridae

Further Reading

A. D. Walker. 1964. Triassic reptiles from the Elgin area: Ornithosuchus and the origin of carnosaurs. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B, Biological Sciences 248:53-134.

Synonyms

Magnosaurus oxoniensis (Walker, 1964) Rauhut, 2003

Image by Nobu Tamura (click to enlarge)

Eustreptospondylus oxoniensis, June 10, 2012: