May 21st, 2017 
Riffin @WFS,World Fossil Society,Riffin T Sajeev,Russel T Sajeev
Researchers from Italy and Portugal describe yet another new sauropod species from 150 million years ago, from Wyoming, USA.
The new species, Galeamopus pabsti, is the most recent dinosaur to be described by paleontologists from the Department of Earth Sciences of the University of Turin, Italy; the Faculty of Science and Technology, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, and the Museum of Lourinhã in Portugal. This Jurassic dinosaur was originally excavated in 1995 by a Swiss team, led by Hans-Jakob “Kirby” Siber and Ben Pabst, in Wyoming, in the United States and is the latest in a series of new discoveries by the paleontologists Emanuel Tschopp and Octávio Mateus, which started in 2012 with Kaatedocus siberi. The paper describing the new species was published online in the open access scientific journal PeerJ on Tuesday, May 2.
Quarry map of SMA 0011.Note the separation of the cervical series and the skull from the dorsal column and the appendicular skeleton, and the articulated block of dorsal vertebrae that do not belong to SMA 0011 (see arrowhead between horizontal lines 15 and 16). Abb.: bc, braincase; co, coracoid; CR, cervical rib; CV, cervical vertebra; DR, dorsal ribs; DV, dorsal vertebra; fe, femur; fi, fibula; fl, forelimb; h, humerus; hl, hindlimb; il, ilium; is, ischium; ma, manus; pcg, pectoral girdle; pe, pes; pu, pubis; pvg, pelvic girdle; r, radius; sc, scapula; SR, sternal ribs; SV, sacral vertebrae; ti, tibia; u, ulna. Map drawn by Esther Premru, copyright by Sauriermuseum Aathal, modified with permission.
Galeamopus pabsti is similar to the famous dinosaur Diplodocus, but with more massive legs, and a particularly high and triangular neck close to the head. It is the second species of the genus Galeamopus to be shown to be different to Diplodocus by the same researchers (the first being published in 2015, in a paper which also reinstated the brontosaurus as a distinct genus). The new species is dedicated to Ben Pabst, who found the skeleton, and prepared it for mounting at the Sauriermuseum Aathal in Switzerland, where it is one of the main attractions of the permanent exhibit.
Skull bones of Galeamopus pabsti SMA 0011 before mounting.
Gray elements were lacking and reconstructed for the mounted skull. Abb.: an, angular; aof, antorbital fenestra; d, dentary; f, frontal; j, jugal; la, lacrimal; m, maxilla; na, nasal; oc, occipital condyle; p, parietal; pf, prefrontal; pm, premaxilla; popr, paroccipital process; pra, proatlas; q, quadrate; qj, quadratojugal; sa, surangular; so, supraoccipital; sq, squamosal; t, teeth. Scale bar = 10 cm. Photo by Urs Möckli and copyright by Sauriermuseum Aathal, modified with permission.
Diplodocid sauropods are among the most iconic dinosaurs. With their greatly elongated necks and tails, they represent the typical body shape of sauropods. Species of this group occur also in Africa, South America, and Europe, but the highest diversity is known from the USA: more than 15 species of these gigantic animals are known from there, also including the famous Brontosaurus. Researchers are still baffled by this high diversity of giants, and are continuing their studies to understand how such a diversity could be maintained by the ecosystem in which they lived.
Skull of Galeamopus pabsti SMA 0011 as usually figured.
The skull is shown as usually figured in dorsal (A), posterior (B), right lateral (C), and anterior views (D), following our terminology section. Dark, uniformely colored elements were lacking and reconstructed for the mounted skull. Note the shallow groove on the premaxilla, extending from the lateral margin anteromedially (1). Abb.: an, angular; aof, antorbital fenestra; bo, basioccipital; bpr, basipterygoid process; d, dentary; ex, exoccipital; f, frontal; j, jugal; ltf, laterotemporal fenestra; m, maxilla; n, external nares; na, nasal; o, orbit; os, orbitosphenoid; p, parietal; paof, preantorbital fossa; pf, prefrontal; pm, premaxilla; po, postorbital; popr, paroccipital process; pro, prootic; q, quadrate; qj, quadratojugal; sa, surangular; so, supraoccipital; sq, squamosal; stf, supratemporal fenestra. Scale bar =10 cm.
Skull reconstruction of Galeamopus pabsti.
The reconstruction is in dorsal (A) and lateral view (B), and was created by Simão Mateus (ML), and based on the holotypic skull of SMA 0011. Lacking bones were reconstructed after Diplodocus (Whitlock, 2011b). Only the bones preserved in the skull of SMA 0011 are labeled. Abb.: an, angular; bpr, basipterygoid process; d, dentary; f, frontal; j, jugal; la, lacrimal; m, maxilla; n, nasal; p, parietal; pf, prefrontal; pm, premaxilla; po, postorbital; popr, paroccipital process; q, quadrate; qj, quadratojugal; sa, surangular; sq, squamosal.
Citation: PeerJ. “New species of dinosaur increases the already unexpected diversity of ‘whiplash dinosaurs’: Researchers from Italy and Portugal describe yet another new sauropod species from 150 million years ago, from Wyoming, USA.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 2 May 2017. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/05/170502084129.htm>.
Key: WFS,World Fossil Society,Riffin T Sajeev,Russel T Sajeev
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Itís difficult to find knowledgeable people on this topic, but you seem like you know what youíre talking about! Thanks