Springfield Armory: Hettangian - Sinemurian, Massachusetts
collected by W. Smith 1855

List of taxa
Where & when
Geology
Taphonomy & methods
Metadata & references
Taxonomic list
Reptilia
Megadactylus polyzelus n. gen., n. sp. Hitchcock 1865
Hitchcock 1865 1 individual
recombined as Anchisaurus polyzelus
AM 41/109
see common names

Geography
Country:United States State/province:Massachusetts County:Hampden
Coordinates: 42.1° North, 72.6° West (view map)
Paleocoordinates:23.8° North, 18.6° West
Basis of coordinate:based on nearby landmark
Altitude:26 meters
Geographic resolution:small collection
Time
Period:Jurassic Epoch:Early/Lower Jurassic
10 m.y. bin:Jurassic 1
Key time interval:Hettangian - Sinemurian
Age range of interval:201.30000 - 190.80000 m.y. ago
Stratigraphy
Geological group:Agawam Formation:Portland
Stratigraphic resolution:bed
Stratigraphy comments: also called "Portland beds", Longmeadow Sandstone
Lithology and environment
Primary lithology:red sandstone
Includes fossils?Y
Environment:terrestrial indet.
Taphonomy
Modes of preservation:body
Degree of concentration:dispersed
Size of fossils:macrofossils
Preservation of anatomical detail:medium
Articulated whole bodies:some
Associated major elements:some
Fragmentation:frequent
Temporal resolution:snapshot
Collection methods and comments
Collection methods:salvage,mechanical,field collection,survey of museum collection
Reason for describing collection:taxonomic analysis
Museum repositories:YPM
Collectors:W. Smith Collection dates:1855
Collection method comments: discovered during blasting operations by William Smith, given by General Whitney to Edward Hitchcock for study in October 1855
Metadata
Database number:47199
Authorizer:M. Carrano Enterer:M. Carrano
Modifier:M. Carrano Research group:vertebrate
Created:2005-02-18 08:09:50 Last modified:2023-09-08 14:25:41
Access level:the public Released:2005-02-18 08:09:50
Creative Commons license:CC BY
Reference information

Primary reference:

23643.ETE E. Hitchcock. 1855. Shark remains from the Coal Formation of Illinois, and bones and tracks from the Connecticut River Sandstone. The American Journal of Science and Arts, series 2 20(60):416-417 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano/M. Carrano]

Secondary references:

56367 E. H. Colbert. 1970. Fossils of the Connecticut Valley. The Age of Dinosaurs begins (revised edition). State Geological and Natural History Survey of Connecticut Bulletin 96:iv-32 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
35435 E. D. Cope. 1870. Synopsis of the Extinct Batrachia, Reptilia and Aves of North America. Part II. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, New Series 14:105-235 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano/M. Uhen]
12624ETE P. M. Galton. 1976. Prosauropod dinosaurs (Reptilia: Saurischia) of North America. Postilla 169:1-98 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
64634 C. H. Hitchcock. 1898. Recent progress in ichnology. In B. K. Emerson (ed.), Geology of Old Hampshire County, Massachusetts Comprising Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden Counties. Monographs of the United States Geological Survey 29:400-406 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
29531ETE E. Hitchcock. 1858. Ichnology of New England. A Report on the Sandstone of the Connecticut Valley, Especially its Fossil Footmarks, Made to the Government of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts xii-214 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
30861ETE E. Hitchcock. 1865. Appendix [A]. Bones of Megadactylus polyzelus. In C. H. Hitchcock (ed.), Supplement to the Ichnology of New England. A Report to the Government of Massachusetts in 1863 39-40 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
62966 F. v. Huene. 1914. I: Animalia. Pars 4. Saurischia et Ornithischia triadica (“Dinosauria” triadica). 1-20 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
14628ETE R. S. Lull. 1915. Triassic life of the Connecticut Valley. State of Connecticut State Geological and Natural History Survey Bulletin 24:1-285 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
7819 O. C. Marsh. 1882. Classification of the Dinosauria. American Journal of Science 23:81-86 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
9053 O. C. Marsh. 1885. Names of extinct reptiles. American Journal of Science 29:169 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
17863ETE V. L. Santucci. 1998. Early discoveries of dinosaurs from North America and the significance of the Springfield Armory dinosaur site. In V. L. Santucci & L. McClelland (eds.), National Park Service Geologic Resources Division Technical Report NPS/NRGRD/GRDTR-98/01. National Park Service Paleontological Research Volume 3:152-154 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
81482 J. S. Tweet and V. L. Santucci. 2011. Anchisaurus from Springfield Armory. In T. Olstad & A. K. Aase (ed.), Proceedings of the 9th Conference on Fossil Resources, Kemmerer, WY. Brigham Young University Geology Studies 49(A):75-82 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
84543 J. S. Tweet and V. L. Santucci. 2018. An inventory of non-avian dinosaurs from National Park Service areas. In S. G. Lucas & R. M. Sullivan (ed.), Fossil Record 6. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 79:703-730 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
85047 D. B. Weishampel and L. Young. 1996. Dinosaurs of the East Coast xiii-275 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
80941 A. M. Yates. 2010. A revision of the problematic sauropodomorph dinosaurs from Manchester, Connecticut and the status of Anchisaurus Marsh. Palaeontology 53(4):739-752 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]