- Becklespinax
Taxobox
name = "Becklespinax"
fossil_range =Early Cretaceous
regnum =Animal ia
phylum =Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
superordo =Dinosaur ia
ordo =Saurischia
subordo =Theropoda
superfamilia =Allosauroidea ?
genus = "Becklespinax"
genus_authority = Olshevsky, 1991
subdivision_ranks =Species
subdivision ="B. altispinax" (Paul, 1988) (type)"Becklespinax" is a
genus of largetheropod dinosaur based on a type specimen of three tall-spinedvertebra e found in1884 inSussex ,England by thefossil collector Samuel H. Beckles. The fossils are believed to have been from theEarly Cretaceous .Its classification has proved difficult. The vertebrae were originally assumed to be linked with some theropod teeth and the result named "
Altispinax dunkeri", a species of theSuperfamily Megalosauroid ea. Later this assignment was shown to be unjustified, as the vertebrae identified as belonging to a new species of "Acrocanthosaurus ", "Acrocanthosaurus altispinax". In 1991 it was reassigned to a new sinraptorid genus, "Becklespinax", byGeorge Olshevsky , in honour of its discoverer, Beckles. Thetype species is "B. altispinax".This animal was probably on the order of 8 metres (26 feet) long and 1.5 tonnes (1.5 tons) in mass.
References
Holtz, T.R., Molnar, R.E., and Currie, P.J. (2004). "Basal Tetanurae". In D. B. Weishampel, P. Dodson, & H. Osmolska (eds.), "The Dinosauria" (2nd Ed). University of California Press, Berkeley 71-110.
External links
* [http://dml.cmnh.org/1997Feb/msg00333.html "Becklespinax"] Dinosaur Mailing List Archive, 18 Feb 1997 15:42, Cleveland Museum of Natural History
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