Barilium Explained

Barilium should not be confused with Beryllium.

Barilium is a genus of iguanodontian dinosaur which was first described as a species of Iguanodon (I. dawsoni) by Richard Lydekker in 1888, the specific epithet honouring the discoverer Charles Dawson, who collected the holotype during the 1880s.^[1] In 2010 it was reclassified as a separate genus by David Norman. The generic name Barilium is derived from Greek barys, "heavy", and Latin ilium.^[2] Later in 2010, Kenneth Carpenter and Yusuke Ishida independently assigned it to the new genus Torilion,^[3] which is thus a junior objective synonym of Barilium. It is known from two partial skeletons found near St Leonards-on-Sea in East Sussex, England,^[4] from the middle Valanginian-age Lower Cretaceous Wadhurst Clay.^[5] Lydekker based the species on the syntype series BMNH R798, 798a, 803-805, 806, 798b, 802, 802a and 799-801. Norman chose NHMUK R 798 and R802, a dorsal vertebra and a left ilium, as the lectotype.

A contemporary of Hypselospinus (also once thought to be a species of Iguanodon), Barilium was a robust iguanodontian estimated at 8m (26feet) long.^[6]

Barilium is separated from Hypselospinus on the basis of vertebral and pelvic characters, size, and build.^[6] For example, Barilium was more robust than Hypselospinus, with large Camptosaurus-like vertebrae featuring short neural spines, whereas Hypselospinus is known for its "long, narrow, and steeply inclined neural spines".^[7]

Notes and References

1. Lydekker . Richard. 1888. Note on a new Wealden iguanodont and other dinosaurs . Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London . 44. 1–4. 46–61 . 10.1144/GSL.JGS.1888.044.01-04.08. 129803661.
2. Norman, David B. . 2010 . A taxonomy of iguanodontians (Dinosauria: Ornithopoda) from the lower Wealden Group (Cretaceous: Valanginian) of southern England . Zootaxa . 2489 . 47–66 . 10.11646/zootaxa.2489.1.3 .
3. Carpenter, K. and Ishida, Y. (2010). "Early and “Middle” Cretaceous Iguanodonts in Time and Space." Journal of Iberian Geology, 36 (2): 145-164.
4. Book: Norman, David B. . Weishampel, D.B. . Dodson, P. . Osmólska, H. . The Dinosauria . 2nd . 2004. University of California Press . Berkeley . 978-0-520-24209-8 . 413–437 . Basal Iguanodontia.
5. Paul . Gregory S. . 2008 . A revised taxonomy of the iguanodont dinosaur genera and species . Cretaceous Research . 29 . 2 . 192–216 . 10.1016/j.cretres.2007.04.009.
6. Book: Blows, W. T. . A review of Lower and middle Cretaceous dinosaurs from England. Lucas, S.G. . Kirkland, J.I. . Estep, J.W. . Lower and Middle Cretaceous Terrestrial Ecosystems . 1997. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin, 14 . New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science . 29–38.
7. Naish . Darren . Martill, David M. . 2008 . Dinosaurs of Great Britain and the role of the Geological Society of London in their discovery: Ornithischia . Journal of the Geological Society, London . 165 . 613–623 . 10.1144/0016-76492007-154 . 3. 2008JGSoc.165..613N . 129624992 .