Agathaumas
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Agathaumas is a dubious genus of herbivorous ceratopsian dinosaur that is thought to have lived during the Late Cretaceous Period. It is known only from vertebrae and a hip bone, which may instead be referrable to fellow ceratopsians such the iconic Triceratops or Torosaurus.[1] The iconic recreation of "Agathaumas sphenocerus" (a result of Edward Drinker Cope's ill-founded transfer of "Monoclonius sphenocerus" to the Agathaumas genus, now considered a nomen dubium) was the basis for its depiction in the 1925 film The Lost World.[1] It was also planned to appear in the scrapped 1931 film Creation, a precursor to the 1933 King Kong film.
Name
Agathaumas' name combines the Greek words αγαν, which means "much," and θαυμα, which means "wonder." The name was conceived by paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope to represent the wonder he felt upon its discovery, as at that time he thought it to be the largest terrestrial animal to have ever lived.[2]
Design
The design used for Agathaumas in The Lost World is based on the 1897 painting of "A. sphenocerus" by Charles R. Knight.[1]
This recreation combined the traits of multiple different dinosaurs. Its horns were based on those of the fellow dubious genus Monoclonius; the long nasal horn was based off "Monoclonius sphenocerus," which is now thought to be referable to Centrosaurus, while the brow horns are based on those attributed to "Monoclonius recurvinus." For creating the rest of the body, Knight drew influence from Othniel Charles Marsh's recreation of Triceratops prosus, which itself erroneously combined traits from other dinosaurs: the long spines lining its frill were instead cervical spines belonging to the nodosaurid Denversaurus, the osteoderms on its body have been found to belong to an ankylosaur, and the spines on its back were in fact based on squamosal horns from Pachycephalosaurus.[1]
History
- The Lost World (1925)
The Lost World
Atop a plateau in the Amazon, an Allosaurus attacked an Agathaumus, pouncing onto its side and attempting to bite the herbivore's neck under its frill. However, the ceratopsian knocked its attacker to the ground before goring the theropod with its long nasal horn. With the Allosaurus dead, the Agathaumus began to feed on plants. Soon after, it was assailed by a Tyrannosaurus rex, which killed the giant herbivore after a brief tussle.
Another Agathaumus fled from a volcanic eruption among an assortment of other dinosaurs as reporter Ed Malone took cover behind a rock.
Abilities
Physical abilities
In W.H. Ballou's 1897 article "Strange creatures of the past. Gigantic saurians of the reptilian age", he described Agathaumas as "walking citadels" with horns adorning their heads for offense and defense.[3] In The Lost World, an Agathaumas used these horns to quickly dispatch an Allosaurus.
Durability
Agathaumus' body osteoderms, based the understanding of the animal at the time of Charles R. Knight's reconstruction, would have warded off predation.[3] In The Lost World, the Agathaumus was not meaningfully harmed by the Allosaurus even as the theropod bit at its neck.
Weaknesses
Agathaumas was said to be vulnerable to attacks from behind its frill, based on the understanding of the creature at the time of Knight's reconstruction.[3] This is reflected in The Lost World, as both the Allosaurs and the Tyrannosaurus rex targeted its body or neck. The Agathaumus was quickly overwhelmed by the Tyrannosaurus rex, who severely wounded its forelimb.
Gallery
The Lost World
Screenshots
Agathaumas confronting an Allosaurus
Agathaumas feeding
Agathaumas confronting a Tyrannosaurus rex
Agathaumas brought down by the Tyrannosaurus rex
Books
Miscellaneous
A still of Agathaumas squaring off with a Triceratops
A promotional still of Agathaumas charging an Allosaurus
A still of Agathaumas goring a Brontosaurus
Trivia
- In a deleted scene from The Lost World, Agathaumas engaged in a standoff with a Stegosaurus.[1]
- An article in the magazine Pictures and Picturegoers about The Lost World erroneously refers to the Agathaumas as a Triceratops in a caption accompanying an image of the creature goring a Brontosaurus.[4]
External links
See also
References
This is a list of references for Agathaumas. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]
|
Comments
Showing 4 comments. When commenting, please remain respectful of other users, stay on topic, and avoid role-playing and excessive punctuation. Comments which violate these guidelines may be removed by administrators.
