Back in 2005, three years before their paper on the WDC Supersaurus known as Jimbo was published, Lovelace at al. presented their work as a poster at the annual SVP meeting. The abstract for that poster appeared, as usual, in the abstracts book that came as a supplement to JVP 25 issue 3. But the poster itself was never published — which is a shame, as it contains some useful images that didn’t make it into the descriptive paper (Lovelace et al. 2008).

With Dave and Scott’s blessing, here it is! Click through for full resolution, of course.

And here’s the abstract as it appeared in print (Lovelace et al. 2005):

REVISED OSTEOLOGY OF SUPERSAURUS VIVIANAE

LOVELACE, David, HARTMAN, Scott, WAHL, William, Wyoming Dinosaur Center, Thermopolis, WY

A second, and more complete, associated specimen of Supersaurus vivianae (WDC-DMJ021) was discovered in the Morrison Formation of east-central Wyoming in a single sauropod locality. The skeleton provides a more complete picture of the osteology of S. vivianae, including a surprising number of apatosaurine characteristics. The caudals have heart shaped centra that lack a ventral longitudinal hollow, and the rectangular distal neural spines of the anterior caudals are mediolaterally expanded similar to Apatosaurus excelsus. The centra of the anterior caudals are procoelous as in other diplodocids, but the posterior ball is very weakly pronounced. The robusticity of the tibiae and fibulae are intermediate between Apatosaurus and diplodocines. The cervical vertebrae demonstrate classic diplodocine elongation with an elongation index ranging from 4 to 7.5. All 7 of the new cervicals have a centrum length that exceeds 1 meter. Mid-posterior cervicals are semicamellate at mid-centra near the pneumatic foramina. The dorsal vertebrae exhibit a high degree of elaboration on laminae, and extremely rugose pre and postspinal laminae. Costal elements are robust, with complex pneumatic innervations in the rib head. Although unknown in other diplodocids, early reports described pneumatic ribs in an A. excelsus; unfortunately the described specimen is unavailable.

Inclusion of lesser-known North American diplodocids such as Supersaurus, Seismosaurus and Suuwassea in phyolgenetic studies, may provide a framework for better understanding North American diplodocid evolution.

Many thanks to Dave and Scott for permission to share this important poster more widely. (Publish your posters, people! That option didn’t exist in 2005, but it does now!)

References

• Lovelace, David M., Scott A. Hartman and William R. Wahl. 2005. Revised Osteology of Supersaurus vivanae (SVP poster). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 25(3):84A–85A.
• Lovelace, David M., Scott A. Hartman and William R. Wahl. 2008. Morphology of a specimen of Supersaurus (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Morrison Formation of Wyoming, and a re-evaluation of diplodocid phylogeny. Arquivos do Museu Nacional, Rio de Janeiro 65(4):527–544.