Mystery vert revisited – SV-POW!bucks now on the line
August 26, 2009
Was this just a half-lame attempt to fulfill our titular mandate whilst plugging my new astronomy blog? Of course it was (and I just did it again!). Doesn’t mean you lot are off the hook for figuring out what it is. So here’s another image with more views. You have a week. Don’t let me down.
Oh, and to sweeten the pot, 351 SV-POW!bucks to the person who first figures it out.
UPDATE: Too late, suckers! In a stunning move, Phil Mannion won the contest basically right out of the gate. The vertebra is indeed a cervical of Paluxysaurus (image below from Rose, 2007). Good job, Phil!
Well, now you’re hosed–the contest is over and you’re not due for another post for nearly a week. What to do, what to do? Assuming that you’re all caught up on your Tet Zoo reading, you might want to check out Save Your Breath For Running Ponies. It’s not just a paleo blog, but it has a lot of paleo in it, including lots of smack talk to whatever critter has been in the news lately. For example, see the recent post, “It’s not all mindless sex with beautiful women, placoderm”. This makes SYBFRP sort of the FU, Penguin of paleo.
OR you could discuss the question I posed in the comments: why does “this anterior cervical of Paluxysaurus look so much like Euhelopus, DGM Serie B, etc. The posterior cervicals look like Sauroposeidon, not exactly the same, but lots of similarities. The juxtaposition blew my mind ten years ago, and it still does. Your thoughts are welcome.” They still are.
Sauropod Vertebra Picture of the Week 
August 26, 2009 at 5:35 am
Well since I’m equal parts space freak and dinosaur nut, I actually half liked your half lame attempt :) (wait – that doesn’t make any sense, lol!)
Great stuff, Matt. The astronomy blog rocks!
As for that incredibly weird vertebra:
I’ll venture to guess that it’s DEFINITELY a titanosauriform, but more specifically I’m leaning towards a less famous one like Erketu or Uberabatitan.
It’s got a mix of “Brachiosaur” and titanosaur features, but it doesn’t look like ANY brachiosaur vert I’ve seen, so I’ll go with titanosaur (or at least something more derived than a brachiosaur).
August 26, 2009 at 7:07 am
Hi! Well, I feel like I’ve seen this cervical before… but I cannot remember where…
It looks like a Titanosaur cervical, in fact, it reminds me of that “Titanosauria indet.” from Brazil, series A or B, I don’t remember…
I’ll keep on searching!
August 26, 2009 at 9:20 am
Do I spot SV-POW!buck inflation?
Oh, and the vert is probably from a hellasaur.
August 26, 2009 at 9:45 am
Paluxysaurus…sorry to end the competition so quickly…
August 26, 2009 at 2:32 pm
It’s got a mix of “Brachiosaur” and titanosaur features
It looks like a Titanosaur cervical
Funny, that stuff went through my head when I first saw this vert, waaay back in 1997 or so. That was about 10 years before it was described in the literature. No more hints, though!
Do I spot SV-POW!buck inflation?
Heck, no. This is a stimulus package!
August 26, 2009 at 2:38 pm
Paluxysaurus…sorry to end the competition so quickly…
This was pending approval while I was writing the previous comment. You are correct, sir! Sorry, folks, the contest is over, the 351 SV-POW!bucks go to gentleman and scholar Phil Mannion.
Now, what I’d like to talk about is why this anterior cervical of Paluxysaurus looks so much like Euhelopus, DGM Serie B, etc. The posterior cervicals look like Sauroposeidon, not exactly the same, but lots of similarities. The juxtaposition blew my mind ten years ago, and it still does. Your thoughts are welcome.
August 26, 2009 at 4:49 pm
I guess this answers the question about that outline drawing under “Shameless cross-promotion”. That one, though, was drawn with what looked like actual holes right through the whatsit on the lower left.
August 26, 2009 at 6:35 pm
Paluxysaurus?
Sheesh, don’t I feel silly. Here was the paper all along! The same picture is in it.
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/hosted_sites/pe/2007_2/00063/description.htm
I bet there’s tons of other mystery papers on mystery verts out there… mark my words, the next SV-POW bucks will be mine!
August 27, 2009 at 8:11 pm
Oh gosh! Thanks so much, guys! Be sure to correct me if ever I get the technical details wrong! :)