Erectopus

*Erectopus sauvagei*

**Erectopus superbus** (meaning erect foot) is an extinct genus of allosauroid theropod dinosaur that lived in France during the Early Cretaceous period. The original specimens were destroyed in World War II, but casts remain for study.

## Etymology

The etymology of Erectopus is based on the structure of the foot (Latin erectus = "upright" + Greek pous = "foot"). The specific name superbus means "proud" in Latin. Based on distal morphology of the end of the tibia and the deduced morphology of the talus, Allain (2005, P. 83) placed Erectopus superbus within the Allosauroidea and seen as a carnosaur. It is the third youngest carnosaur known from the Early Cretaceous Europadel, after the " Montmirat theropod" from the Valanginian of southern France and from Neovenator salerii from the Barremian of the Isle of Wight.

## History

The material comprising the type series was discovered in the late 19th century from the Phosphate-bearing beds of La Penthiève (Mammilatum; lower Albian) at Louppy-le-Château in eastern France, which have also produced remains of plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs, crocodiles. The bones originally resided in the private collection of Louis Pierson and were first described by H. E. Sauvage in 1882. Von Huene assigned to Erectopus to Carnosauria in 1923, In 1932 he erected Erectopodidae but that name was not followed. Generally, later researchers placed the species with the Megalosauridae. Allain concluded in 2005 a placement in the Allosauroidea, mainly due to the shape of the connection of the jumping leg with the tibia. Most scientists think that this is still too precise and no further determination than a more general Tetanurae is possible.

## Description

Erectopus is a medium-sized predator. The femur has a length of 48 centimeters and the foot is 23 centimeters, indicating a body length of 4 to 5 meters. The weight has been estimated by Allain at two hundred kilograms. The teeth are flattened, elongated and bent backwards with a crown length of about six centimeters.

Allain gives the following diagnosis of Erectopus, the posterior ramus of the maxilla is rounded; thin neck of femoral head; the upper part of the thigh is bent back, the upper front edge of the calcaneus is directed upward, the calcaneus has twice the diameter, 5.6 centimeters than the vertical thickness, the tangent plane of the rock bone with the tibia has a protrusion directed outwards and towards the center, the second metatarsal has a length equal to half the length of the femur, the lateral edge of the upper part of the second metatarsal is uniformly hollow.

It used to be thought that a unique feature of the Erectopus femur was a combination of a straight and hollow upper shaft, but research by Allain showed that this was an artifact of poor preparation and restoration by Pierson of the broken fossil.

Allain (2005 pp. 75-76) diagnoses Erectopus superbus as follows: "Rounded anterior ramus of maxilla; slender neck of femur; posterior curvature of proximal half of femur; anterodorsal edge of calcaneum dorsally projected; calcaneum twice as long as deep vertically; posteromedial process for tibia on articular surface of astragalus; length of second metatarsal equal to half the length of femur; lateral margin of proximal end of second metatarsal regularly concave."

## JPInstitute.com Description

Erectopus was a small meat-eater that lived in Europe and northern Africa. Of course, small for a dinosaur is still pretty big, it weighed as much as a large lion! It had lots of sharp teeth for tearing flesh, but not too much more is known as only a few bones have been found.

First identified in 1876 as a species of Megalosaurus, it was re-classified as a new genus in 1923. This dinosaur seems to exhibit some odd features not found on any other theropod, including placement of the femoral head.

## Links

https://web.archive.org/web/20030813035132fw\_/http://www.jpinstitute.com/dinopedia/dinocards/dc\_erect.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20080508051341/http://kids.yahoo.com/dinosaurs/216--Erectopus