''Iuticosaurus'' (meaning "

Jute Jute ( ) is a long, rough, shiny bast fibre that can be Spinning (textiles), spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from flowering plants in the genus ''Corchorus'', of the mallow family Malvaceae. The primary source of the fiber is ...

lizard") is a genus of

titanosaur Titanosaurs (or titanosaurians; members of the group Titanosauria) were a diverse group of sauropod dinosaurs, including genera from all seven continents. The titanosaurs were the last surviving group of long-necked sauropods, with taxa still thr ...

sauropod Sauropoda (), whose members are known as sauropods (; from '' sauro-'' + '' -pod'', 'lizard-footed'), is a clade of saurischian ('lizard-hipped') dinosaurs. Sauropods had very long necks, long tails, small heads (relative to the rest of their b ...

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...

from the Early

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

of the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

. Two species have been named: ''I. valdensis'' and ''I. lydekkeri''. ''I. valdensis'' was found in the

Wessex Formation The Wessex Formation is a fossil-rich England, English geological formation that dates from the Berriasian to Barremian Stage (stratigraphy), stages of the Early Cretaceous. It forms part of the Wealden Group and underlies the younger Vectis Form ...

and ''I. lydekkeri'' in the younger

Upper Greensand Greensand or green sand is a sand or sandstone which has a greenish color. This term is specifically applied to shallow marine sediment that contains noticeable quantities of rounded greenish grains. These grains are called ''glauconies'' and co ...

History and taxonomy

In 1887

Richard Lydekker Richard Lydekker (; 25 July 1849 – 16 April 1915) was a British naturalist, geologist and writer of numerous books on natural history. He was known for his contributions to zoology, paleontology, and biogeography. He worked extensively in cata ...

described two sauropod tail vertebrae found by William Fox near Brook Bay on Wight, BMNH R146a and BMNH 151, and referred them to the genus ''

Ornithopsis ''Ornithopsis'' (meaning "bird-likeness") is a genus of sauropod dinosaur, from the Early Cretaceous of England and possibly Germany. The type species, which is the only species seen as valid today, is ''O. hulkei,'' which is only known from frag ...

'', despite indicating their similarity to ''

Titanosaurus ''Titanosaurus'' (; ) is a dubious genus of sauropod dinosaurs, first described by Richard Lydekker in 1877.R. Lydekker. (1877). Notices of new and other Vertebrata from Indian Tertiary and Secondary rocks. ''Records of the Geological Survey of ...

'' (noting them once as ''Titanosaurus'' species A and ''Titanosaurus'' species B), because the tail of ''Ornithopsis'' was unknown.Lydekker, R., 1887, "On certain dinosaurian vertebrae from the Cretaceous of India and the Isle of Wight", ''Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London'' 43: 157–160 On reading the paper to the

Geological Society of London The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe, with more than 12,000 Fellows. Fe ...

, Lydekker was criticised by

Harry Govier Seeley Harry Govier Seeley (18 February 1839 – 8 January 1909) was a British paleontologist. Early life Seeley was born in London on 18 February 1839, the second son of Richard Hovill Seeley, a goldsmith, and his second wife Mary Govier. When his fa ...

and John Hulke for his choice and in 1888 he referred to the fossils as ''Titanosaurus'' sp. a, ''Titanosaurus'' sp. b being a third vertebra, BMNH 32390.' In 1929

Friedrich von Huene Baron Friedrich Richard von Hoyningen-Huene (22 March 1875 – 4 April 1969) was a German nobleman paleontologist who described a large number of dinosaurs, more than anyone else in 20th-century Europe. He studied a range of Permo-Carbonife ...

named both taxa as full species. The first became ''Titanosaurus Valdensis'', the

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

referring to the Wealden, the second ''Titanosaurus Lydekkeri'', its specific name honouring Lydekker. By present convention both specific names would be spelled as ''T. valdensis'' and ''T. lydekkeri'' respectively. In 1993 Jean le Loeuff redescribed the material and named a separate genus: ''Iuticosaurus'', the generic name referring to the

Jutes The Jutes ( ) were one of the Germanic people, Germanic tribes who settled in Great Britain after the end of Roman rule in Britain, departure of the Roman Britain, Romans. According to Bede, they were one of the three most powerful Germanic na ...

who settled the island in the fifth century and established a Jute dynasty in the sixth century. Le Loeuff made ''Iuticosaurus valdensis'' the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

, and chose BMNH 151 as the

lectotype In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes ...

. Another vertebra, BMNH R 1886, was referred by him to this species. The second species, though formally named by him as ''Iuticosaurus lydekkeri'', he considered a ''

nomen dubium In binomial nomenclature, a ''nomen dubium'' (Latin for "doubtful name", plural ''nomina dubia'') is a scientific name that is of unknown or doubtful application. Zoology In case of a ''nomen dubium,'' it may be impossible to determine whether a ...

''.Le Loeuff, J. (1993). European titanosaurids. ''Revue de Paléobiologie, Volume Spéciale'' 7:105-117.

Description

''Iuticosaurus'' was probably similar to the dubious ''

''. It measured 15 to 20 metres (49–65 feet) long.

Classification

Most researchers have concluded that both species of ''Iuticosaurus'' cannot be distinguished from other titanosaurs and are therefore ''

nomina dubia In binomial nomenclature, a ''nomen dubium'' (Latin for "doubtful name", plural ''nomina dubia'') is a scientific name that is of unknown or doubtful application. Zoology In case of a ''nomen dubium,'' it may be impossible to determine whether a ...

''. It was, however, probably a titanosaur.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1656671 Titanosauria Dinosaur genera Barremian dinosaurs Albian dinosaurs Wessex Formation Fossil taxa described in 1993 Dinosaurs of the United Kingdom