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''Atlantosaurus'' (meaning "Atlas lizard") is a dubious genus of sauropod dinosaur. It contains a single species, ''Atlantosaurus montanus'', from the upper Morrison Formation of Colorado, USA. ''Atlantosaurus'' was the first sauropod to be described during the infamous 19th century Bone Wars,〔Wilson, J. A. (2011). "Anatomical terminology for the sacrum of sauropod dinosaurs." ''Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan'', 32(5): 59-69. ()〕 during which scientific methodology suffered in favor of pursuit of academic acclaim.〔 ==History== The type specimen, found by Arthur Lakes in the Morrison Formation of Colorado, USA, was described by Othniel Charles Marsh, a Professor of Paleontology at Yale University (then called ''Yale College''), in 1877 as ''Titanosaurus montanus''. Marsh soon learned that the name ''Titanosaurus'' had already been used earlier that year to describe a different sauropod, so he renamed it ''Atlantosaurus montanus''. The skeletal remains discovered were initially distinguished by their immense size and by the pleurocoels (air-filled pockets) in the vertebrae. However, since the time of its discovery, these features have been found to be widespread among sauropods, making it nearly impossible to distinguish the two known vertebrae of ''Atlantosaurus'' from those of its relatives. Since it is unclear whether or not ''Atlantosaurus montanus'' actually represents a distinct species, it is considered a ''nomen dubium'' ("dubious name"),〔 McIntosh, J. S. (1990). Sauropoda. In D. B. Weishampel, P. Dodson, and H. Osmólska (eds.), ''The Dinosauria'', University of California Press, Berkeley, 345-401.〕 though some researchers have considered it a likely synonym of ''Apatosaurus ajax''.〔Berman, D.S. and McIntosh, J. S. (1978). "Skull and relationships of the Upper Jurassic sauropod ''Apatosaurus'' (Reptilia, Saurischia)." ''Bulletin of the Carnegie Museum'', 8: 1–35.〕〔Taylor, M.P. (2010). "Sauropod dinosaur research: a historical review." Pp. 361-386 in Moody, R.T.J., Buffetaut, E., Naish, D. and Martill, D.E. (eds.), ''Dinosaurs and Other Extinct Saurians: A Historical Perspective''. London: The Geological Society, Special Publication No. 34.〕 Image:Flammarion atlantosaurus.jpg|Early life restoration File:Atlantosaurus femur.jpg|Femur of an ''Atlantosaurus''. From a cast in the Natural History Museum, London. Length 6 feet, 2 inches. Plate XVIII 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Atlantosaurus」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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