Camptosaurus

Name: Camptosaurus ‭(‬Bent lizard‭)‬. Phonetic: Camp-toe-sore-us. Named By: Othniel Charles Marsh‭ ‬-‭ ‬1885. Synonyms: Brachyrophus altarkansanus,‭ ‬Camptonotus dispar‭ ‬,‭ ‬Camptosaurus browni,‭ ‬C.‭ ‬medius,‭ ‬C.‭ ‬nanus,‭ ‬Symphyrophus musculosus. Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Ornithischia,‭ ‬Ornithopoda. Species: C.‭ ‬dispar (type). Type: Herbivore. Size: Average‭ ‬6‭ ‬meters long,‭ but ‬some larger individuals approached almost‭ ‬8‭ ‬meters long. Known locations: USA. Time period: Callovian to Oxfordian of the Jurassic. Fossil representation: Several specimens are known.

Once again the term‭ '‬wastebasket taxon‭' ‬looms like a spectre over another dinosaur.‭ ‬Many of the fossils that were once attributed to Camptosaurus have since been found to represent other dinosaurs,‭ ‬and this is especially true for the European species that were once assigned to Camptosaurus.‭ ‬Despite this reduction in species and geographic distribution,‭ ‬Camptosaurus is still reconstructed with confidence.‭ Some of the above confusion came about because of similarities to other dinosaurs like  Iguanodon ,‭ ‬among which had a thumb spike,‭ ‬similar to that found on Camptosaurus.‭ ‬As a basal form Camptosaurus had powerfully built legs and may have spent much of its time and standard locomotion in a bipedal stance.‭ ‬Study of the fore limbs however do show weight bearing adaptations,‭ ‬suggesting that Camptosaurus was at least sometimes a low browser and supported itself in a quadrupedal fashion.‭ ‬The fingers however are not packed together and do have some dextrous movement to them. Camptosaurus had a large amount of teeth in its mouth and these often show signs of heavy wear.‭ ‬This suggests that Camptosaurus had to do a lot of chewing in order to process its food properly,‭ ‬and may‭ ‬have‭ ‬focused on plants too tough for other species to tackle.