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Pentaceratops sternbergi and Saurophaganax maximus
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Pictured with Saurophaganax is the largest Apatosaurus excelsus mount in the world, coming in at roughly 28 meters and 30 tonnes. Both animals were found in Oklahoma's panhandle.
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Pentaceratops sternbergi
Osborn, 1923 "Charles M. Sternberg's five horn lizard"
Length: 5 to 8 meters
Mass: 2.5 tonnes
Time: Campanian to Maastrichtian, 71 to 65 mya, Late Cretaceous
Place: New Mexico and Colorado, USA
Remains: 9 skulls and multiple skeletons, some of them complete
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This Pentaceratops mount is more correct when it comes to the stance of ceratopsians than the Smithsonian's Triceratops. The rib and vertebral articulations are much better. The joints, as in rhinos, are flexed. As a ceratopsian trackway demonstrates, and this mount attempts to show, the manus had to be directly beneath the glenoid, directing the manus more laterally, rather than medially as depicted in other mounts. If you notice, the feet are more medial than the hands. This is due to the slightly adverted elbow and the asymmetrical distal femoral condyles directing the crus more medially. In all, ceratopsian limbs operated close to a parasagittal plane, with elbows slightly bent as in rhinos. As for running speed, just look at the animal... Nothing more needs to be said.
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With a skull length in excess of 3m, this Pentaceratops, found in New Mexico, has been crowned as having the largest known skull of any terrestrial animal.
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The affinities with allosaurs are obvious.
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Saurophaganax maximus (Saurophagax, Saurophagnax)
= Allosaurus amplexus ?
= Allosaurus maximus ?
Stovall & Ray, 1941 / Swainson, 1831 "Lizard eater"
A. maximus Chure, 1995 "Greatest lizard eater"
Length: 14 meters ?
Mass: 3 - 4 tonnes
Time: Oxfordian, Kimmeridgian, Tithonian, 154 - 144 mya, Late Jurassic
Place: Oklahoma, Colorado, USA
Remains: A. amplexus - anterior dorsal centrum, anterior dorsal neural arch, axis, vertebra, coracoid, fragmentary limb bone. A. maximus - dorsal neural arch. S. maximus - various elements (some on display at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History)
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Photographs taken at The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History.
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Remember! These are low-res photos and collages! Feel free to e-mail me about my high-res photographs.
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Pentaceratops sternbergi & Saurophaganax maximus
Copyright Kristopher J Kripchak 2002
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From the short description I gave, it's obvious that there is an ongoing debate over the taxonomy of this species. Some believe that all allosaurs are just variations of Allosaurus fragilis. On the other hand, some see valid reasons to split allosaurs into several genera, including Saurophaganax. As far as I am concerned, I see only A. fragilis and A. atrox. (Even A. atrox is being argued away by some.)
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