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Description
Torvosaurus tanneri

The Morrison Formation is home to a myriad of predatory dinosaurs. From the small basal tyrannosaur Stokesosaurus to the iconic predator, Allosaurus. Predators prowled the scrubland and conifer forests of this Jurassic Environment. However, an animal often overlooked is a massive megalosaur known as Torvosaurus tanneri.

History of Discovery:

In 1899, Chicago Paleontologist Elmer Riggs of the Field Museum had uncovered fragments of bone in Southeastern Wyoming. However, he was unable to give it proper classification and thought it was probably some generic large theropod like Allosaurus. Mainly because the bones consisted of part of the left foot and parts of the right hand. When Riggs returned to Chicago, he put the fossils in storage and there they dwelled for 111 years until being rediscovered in 2010.

In 1971, Vivian Jones, an amateur fossil hunter was prospecting for fossils outside of her ranch in Moffat County. When she came across a find that’d change the view of Jurassic North America forever. A massive claw from a theropod, she and her husband contacted Utah paleontologist James Alvin Jensen to inspect the find. Upon examining it, he found that this was a markedly different claw compared to Allosaurus. Sending out a team to the region, they dug into the rock and found countless fossils from not just theropods, but sauropods as well. It became known as the Dry Mesa Dinosaur Quarry. Digging into the rock face, Jensen and his colleague Peter Galton led an expedition that pulled out a partial skeleton of a megalosaurine from the period of 1971-1972. Seven years later in 1979, they dubbed the dinosaur, Torvosaurus tanneri. The generic name derived from the Latin “Torvus” meaning savage, and the Greek “sauros” meaning lizard. Whereas the specific name was named after the first counselor in the Mormon Church Eldon Tanner. The entire name means “Tanner’s Savage Lizard”.

In 1985, Jensen compiled the fossils found in Dry Mesa into holotype BYU 2002. Consisting of a complete pelvis, tail vertebra, the claw that Jones discovered, two partial arms, fragments of the tibia and a partial skull. As of today, this is one of the most complete megalosaurs next to the British Eustreptospondylus.

In 2014, the fossils found in Wyoming were confirmed to be Torvosaurus remains and labeled FMNH 3060.

Classification:

When discovered, it was classified as a megalosaur. While some paleontologists debated it being a basal member of carnosauria as a whole, with the shaky standing of that clade (referring to all non-coelurosaur/ceratosaur dinosaurs, EX: allosaurs, spinosaurs, metriacanthosaurs, etc.). Or even classifying it as a basal spinosaur.

Today, the consensus is it’s still a megalosaur. A close cousin of the English megalosaurs like Duriavenator and the first carnivorous dinosaur named, Megalosaurus.

Description:

The holotype specimen of Torvosaurus is estimated to be approximately 28.5ft long and 6.8ft tall. However, it's believed this dinosaur was not fully grown with paleontologists saying these may be mature juveniles with some more growing left to do. More fragmentary specimens indicate a larger body size of 33-37ft long and reaching 7.6-9ft tall. This would make Torvosaurus one of the largest megalosaurs and rivaling large Allosaurs like the controversial Saurophaganax. The skull was more elongated compared to its contemporaries with a narrow snout and equipped with serrated teeth designed to slice through flesh. Furthermore, it was a bit more robust compared to its allosaur cousins. Weighing in at 4-5 tons, it was a powerful predator that hunted a variety of game on the plains and forests of the Morrison.

Habitat, Prey and Competitors:

Torvosaurus evolved approximately 165,000,000 years ago and the youngest verified fossils have been dated to 148,000,000 years ago existing for 17,000,000 years. The environment of the Morrison during the Late Jurassic was a floodplain environment for the most part interspersed with conifer forests in between the plains filled with horsetail, scattered tree ferns until you got to the coniferous forests filled with Araucaria and Sequoia-like trees. There would have been a pronounced wet season followed by a dry season where the plains would become a dry, scrub-like environment.

It is in this environment where a lot of sauropod dinosaurs evolved. From Camarasaurus, Diplodocus, and Brontosaurus to Brachiosaurus, Barosaurus and Kaatedocus, just to name a few. These megafaunal herbivores roamed the plains, forests, and prairies throughout the Morrison during Torvosaurus' reign.

Other dinosaurs included smaller ornithopods Dryosaurus and Nanosaurus, mid-sized ones like Uteodon and Camptosaurus, and Stegosaurs like Stegosaurus itself and Hesperosaurus. The aforementioned herbivores would have been easy prey for this megalosaur.

In competition with this robust megalosaur were many theropod dinosaurs that it encountered on the plains and forests of the Morrison. Predators like the horned predator Ceratosaurus have been found here along with smaller dinosaurs. Among the most unique was the basal tyrannosaur Stokesosaurus. While small, its kin would eventually take the spot of top predator during the Cretaceous, but for now, they were small predators. Furthermore, a recently discovered small troodontid called Hesperornithoides existed in this region. The most common being the large predator Allosaurus with it far outnumbering Torvosaurus in the Morrison fossil record.

Why did so many theropods here get to great size?

Allosaurus, Torvosaurus, Ceratosaurus and potentially Saurophaganax were large predators in the Morrison Formation. A question many who specialized in this region have asked is, “how did 3-4 genera of large theropods evolve in this region and attain large sizes?”

Studies in this region indicate there were two eco-regions. Some had lush environments with conifer forests, and the other had scrubby floodplain environments from season to season. Paleontologists have speculated a form of niche partitioning was at play. With animals like Ceratosaurus and Torvosaurus inhabiting more forested and underbrush environments where as Allosaurus and its kin probably stuck to the outskirts and predated on the floodplains hunting larger prey.

With Torvosaurus being a woodland animal and inhabiting a different environment, it would have been able to achieve larger sizes as selection pressures put on it enabled it to target larger prey in its environment.

However, for all its partitioning, that does not mean they did not come into contact with their competition. Fossils of Allosaurus in the Mygatt-Moore quarry in Colorado indicate bite marks on Allosaurus bones left by a large carnivore. It’s possible that this could have been from a Saurophaganax or Torvosaurus. In hard times like the dry season or food scarcity, carnivores will eat just about anything, and they did just that here, right down to the bone.

Extinction:

Megalosaurs would vanish by the end of the Jurassic, while there is evidence of some megalosaurs persisting into the Cretaceous, that is not conclusive. As for Torvosaurus itself, the extinction of this theropod is likely down to climate change. As these dinosaurs died out, more specialized giant allosaurs would take their place in the Early Cretaceous.

While extinct, this predator offered a more diverse view in terms of what Morrison predators were like and how the dynamics of rival predators functioned in the Morrison Formation.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Saturday and decided to feature an animal I’d redo in a big way. HEY THAT RHYMED!!!

Furthermore, decided to update the stats to a more middle-ground size for Torvosaurus. I loved posing this guy in a more dynamic pose with it feeding from a Camptosaurus. Loved making this pose for the dinosaur, had a fun time posing this guy.

Yes, this is in PMP, and played a decent part in the last episode with the Torvosaurus dealing with stress. The skin as said previously was modified by me, decided to get rid of that overemphasized red from Dinosaur Revolution and made it a swampy mottled green.

Torvosaurus model and skin by Tyranachu, modified by me:
Torvosaurus (Tyranachu) | ZT2 Download Library Wiki | Fandom

Camptosaurus model and skin by Ulquiorra:
Camptosaurus (Ulquiorra) | ZT2 Download Library Wiki | Fandom

For Past Meets Present:
Past Meets Present (Pt4 is Up) - The ZT2 Round Table

Description
Torvosaurus tanneri

The Morrison Formation is home to a myriad of predatory dinosaurs. From the small basal tyrannosaur Stokesosaurus to the iconic predator, Allosaurus. Predators prowled the scrubland and conifer forests of this Jurassic Environment. However, an animal often overlooked is a massive megalosaur known as Torvosaurus tanneri.

History of Discovery:

In 1899, Chicago Paleontologist Elmer Riggs of the Field Museum had uncovered fragments of bone in Southeastern Wyoming. However, he was unable to give it proper classification and thought it was probably some generic large theropod like Allosaurus. Mainly because the bones consisted of part of the left foot and parts of the right hand. When Riggs returned to Chicago, he put the fossils in storage and there they dwelled for 111 years until being rediscovered in 2010.

In 1971, Vivian Jones, an amateur fossil hunter was prospecting for fossils outside of her ranch in Moffat County. When she came across a find that’d change the view of Jurassic North America forever. A massive claw from a theropod, she and her husband contacted Utah paleontologist James Alvin Jensen to inspect the find. Upon examining it, he found that this was a markedly different claw compared to Allosaurus. Sending out a team to the region, they dug into the rock and found countless fossils from not just theropods, but sauropods as well. It became known as the Dry Mesa Dinosaur Quarry. Digging into the rock face, Jensen and his colleague Peter Galton led an expedition that pulled out a partial skeleton of a megalosaurine from the period of 1971-1972. Seven years later in 1979, they dubbed the dinosaur, Torvosaurus tanneri. The generic name derived from the Latin “Torvus” meaning savage, and the Greek “sauros” meaning lizard. Whereas the specific name was named after the first counselor in the Mormon Church Eldon Tanner. The entire name means “Tanner’s Savage Lizard”.

In 1985, Jensen compiled the fossils found in Dry Mesa into holotype BYU 2002. Consisting of a complete pelvis, tail vertebra, the claw that Jones discovered, two partial arms, fragments of the tibia and a partial skull. As of today, this is one of the most complete megalosaurs next to the British Eustreptospondylus.

In 2014, the fossils found in Wyoming were confirmed to be Torvosaurus remains and labeled FMNH 3060.

Classification:

When discovered, it was classified as a megalosaur. While some paleontologists debated it being a basal member of carnosauria as a whole, with the shaky standing of that clade (referring to all non-coelurosaur/ceratosaur dinosaurs, EX: allosaurs, spinosaurs, metriacanthosaurs, etc.). Or even classifying it as a basal spinosaur.

Today, the consensus is it’s still a megalosaur. A close cousin of the English megalosaurs like Duriavenator and the first carnivorous dinosaur named, Megalosaurus.

Description:

The holotype specimen of Torvosaurus is estimated to be approximately 28.5ft long and 6.8ft tall. However, it's believed this dinosaur was not fully grown with paleontologists saying these may be mature juveniles with some more growing left to do. More fragmentary specimens indicate a larger body size of 33-37ft long and reaching 7.6-9ft tall. This would make Torvosaurus one of the largest megalosaurs and rivaling large Allosaurs like the controversial Saurophaganax. The skull was more elongated compared to its contemporaries with a narrow snout and equipped with serrated teeth designed to slice through flesh. Furthermore, it was a bit more robust compared to its allosaur cousins. Weighing in at 4-5 tons, it was a powerful predator that hunted a variety of game on the plains and forests of the Morrison.

Habitat, Prey and Competitors:

Torvosaurus evolved approximately 165,000,000 years ago and the youngest verified fossils have been dated to 148,000,000 years ago existing for 17,000,000 years. The environment of the Morrison during the Late Jurassic was a floodplain environment for the most part interspersed with conifer forests in between the plains filled with horsetail, scattered tree ferns until you got to the coniferous forests filled with Araucaria and Sequoia-like trees. There would have been a pronounced wet season followed by a dry season where the plains would become a dry, scrub-like environment.

It is in this environment where a lot of sauropod dinosaurs evolved. From Camarasaurus, Diplodocus, and Brontosaurus to Brachiosaurus, Barosaurus and Kaatedocus, just to name a few. These megafaunal herbivores roamed the plains, forests, and prairies throughout the Morrison during Torvosaurus' reign.

Other dinosaurs included smaller ornithopods Dryosaurus and Nanosaurus, mid-sized ones like Uteodon and Camptosaurus, and Stegosaurs like Stegosaurus itself and Hesperosaurus. The aforementioned herbivores would have been easy prey for this megalosaur.

In competition with this robust megalosaur were many theropod dinosaurs that it encountered on the plains and forests of the Morrison. Predators like the horned predator Ceratosaurus have been found here along with smaller dinosaurs. Among the most unique was the basal tyrannosaur Stokesosaurus. While small, its kin would eventually take the spot of top predator during the Cretaceous, but for now, they were small predators. Furthermore, a recently discovered small troodontid called Hesperornithoides existed in this region. The most common being the large predator Allosaurus with it far outnumbering Torvosaurus in the Morrison fossil record.

Why did so many theropods here get to great size?

Allosaurus, Torvosaurus, Ceratosaurus and potentially Saurophaganax were large predators in the Morrison Formation. A question many who specialized in this region have asked is, “how did 3-4 genera of large theropods evolve in this region and attain large sizes?”

Studies in this region indicate there were two eco-regions. Some had lush environments with conifer forests, and the other had scrubby floodplain environments from season to season. Paleontologists have speculated a form of niche partitioning was at play. With animals like Ceratosaurus and Torvosaurus inhabiting more forested and underbrush environments where as Allosaurus and its kin probably stuck to the outskirts and predated on the floodplains hunting larger prey.

With Torvosaurus being a woodland animal and inhabiting a different environment, it would have been able to achieve larger sizes as selection pressures put on it enabled it to target larger prey in its environment.

However, for all its partitioning, that does not mean they did not come into contact with their competition. Fossils of Allosaurus in the Mygatt-Moore quarry in Colorado indicate bite marks on Allosaurus bones left by a large carnivore. It’s possible that this could have been from a Saurophaganax or Torvosaurus. In hard times like the dry season or food scarcity, carnivores will eat just about anything, and they did just that here, right down to the bone.

Extinction:

Megalosaurs would vanish by the end of the Jurassic, while there is evidence of some megalosaurs persisting into the Cretaceous, that is not conclusive. As for Torvosaurus itself, the extinction of this theropod is likely down to climate change. As these dinosaurs died out, more specialized giant allosaurs would take their place in the Early Cretaceous.

While extinct, this predator offered a more diverse view in terms of what Morrison predators were like and how the dynamics of rival predators functioned in the Morrison Formation.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Saturday and decided to feature an animal I’d redo in a big way. HEY THAT RHYMED!!!

Furthermore, decided to update the stats to a more middle-ground size for Torvosaurus. I loved posing this guy in a more dynamic pose with it feeding from a Camptosaurus. Loved making this pose for the dinosaur, had a fun time posing this guy.

Yes, this is in PMP, and played a decent part in the last episode with the Torvosaurus dealing with stress. The skin as said previously was modified by me, decided to get rid of that overemphasized red from Dinosaur Revolution and made it a swampy mottled green.

Torvosaurus model and skin by Tyranachu, modified by me:
Torvosaurus (Tyranachu) | ZT2 Download Library Wiki | Fandom

Camptosaurus model and skin by Ulquiorra:
Camptosaurus (Ulquiorra) | ZT2 Download Library Wiki | Fandom

For Past Meets Present:
Past Meets Present (Pt4 is Up) - The ZT2 Round Table