Tornieria

Tornieria Temporal range: Late Jurassic PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Caudal vertebra of T. africana
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Clade:	Saurischia
Clade:	†Sauropodomorpha
Clade:	†Sauropoda
Superfamily:	†Diplodocoidea
Family:	†Diplodocidae
Subfamily:	†Diplodocinae
Genus:	†Tornieria Sternfeld, 1911
Species:	†T. africana
Binomial name
†Tornieria africana Fraas, 1908
Synonyms[1]
Genus synonymy Gigantosaurus Fraas, 1908 (preoccupied) Species synonymy Gigantosaurus africanus Fraas, 1908

Tornieria ("for

In 1907, German paleontologist Eberhard Fraas who was working the Tendaguru Beds in German East Africa (presently Tanzania), discovered two sauropod specimens at a single site ("Quarry A"). The two individuals, designated "Skeleton A" and "Skeleton B", each represented a different sauropod species. In 1908 he named these respectively Gigantosaurus africanus ("African giant lizard") and G. robustus ("Robust giant lizard").^[2] A third, unrelated African species, "Gigantosaurus" dixeyi, was named by in 1928, and has since been reassigned to Malawisaurus.

However, the name

A re-evaluation of Tornieria in 1922 by

titanosaur. The titanosaur species for a time was called Tornieria, but this was incorrect as T. africana had been the type species. It needed a generic name of its own and this was provided in 1991 when Rupert Wild renamed it Janenschia

.

If Tornieria were the same genus as Barosaurus, then the name Tornieria would be abandoned as a

junior subjective synonym. However, later researchers proposed generic distinction between the American and the African form. In the early 21st century this usage became prevalent and in 2006 Kristian Remes in a review concluded that Tornieria was indeed distinct and a valid genus.^[5]

A complication is formed by the fact that Janensch in 1961 recognised a variety of B. africanus: B. africanus var. gracilis, a morph distinguished by more gracile hind limbs.^[6] In 1980, Russell et al. promoted this to a full species: Barosaurus gracilis^[7] which then would become a Tornieria gracilis under the present usage, a combination already published by George Olshevsky in 1992.^[8] However, Remes in 2006 concluded that B. gracilis had been a nomen nudum, neither holotype nor diagnosis having been provided in 1980.^[5]

Specimens and description

Elements of the original "Skeleton A" were designated by Fraas as a

Second World War. Remes, however, concluded that merely a second partial skeleton, "Skeleton k", including also some skull elements, could be reliably referred, and a series of caudal vertebrae. The remains are from the later strata of the Tendaguru, the obere Dinosauriermergel or "Upper Dinosaur Marl", dating from the Tithonian.^[5]

Tornieria was a large sauropod, with a maximum known

plesiomorphic

hindlimb proportions with a short lower leg.

Phylogeny

After performing a

sister taxon of a clade formed by Barosaurus and Diplodocus. It would thus be a member of the Diplodocinae.^[5] The following cladogram is based on the phylogenetic analysis conducted by Whitlock in 2011, showing the relationships of Tornieria among the other genera assigned to the taxon Diplodocidae:^[9]

Diplodocidae	Apatosaurus Supersaurus Dinheirosaurus Tornieria Barosaurus Diplodocus

References

1. ^ "Tornieria". Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
2. ^ E. Fraas, 1908, "Dinosaurierfunde in Ostafrika", Jahreshefte des Vereins für Vaterländische Naturkunde in Württemberg 64: 84-86
3. ^ Sternfeld, R., 1911, "Zur Nomenklatur der Gattung Gigantosaurus Fraas", Sitzungsberichte der Gesellschaft naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin 1911: 398
4. ^ Janensch, W., 1922, "Das Handskelett von Gigantosaurus robustus und Brachiosaurus brancai aus den Tendaguru-Schichten Deutsch- Ostafrikas", Centralblatt für Mineralogie, Geologie und Paläontologie 1922: 464–480
5. ^ ^{a b c d} Remes, K., 2006, "Revision of the Tendaguru sauropod Tornieria africana (Fraas) and its relevance for sauropod paleobiogeography", Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 26(3): 651–669
6. ^ Janensch, W., 1961, "Die Gliedmaßen und Gliedmaßengürtel der Sauropoden der Tendaguru-Schichten", Palaeontographica Supplement 7(3): 177–235
7. ^ D. Russell, P. Béland, and J. McIntosh, 1980, "Paleoecology of the dinosaurs of Tendaguru (Tanzania)", Memoires de la Societé Geologique de France, N.S. 139: 169-175
8. ^ G. Olshevsky, 1992, A revision of the parainfraclass Archosauria Cope, 1869, excluding the advanced Crocodylia. Mesozoic Meanderings 2, pp. 1-268
9. ^ Whitlock, J.A. (2011). "A phylogenetic analysis of Diplodocoidea (Saurischia: Sauropoda)." Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, Article first published online: 12 Jan 2011.