Message #192328

[Moonfire]

Classification

Allosaurus was an allosaurid, a member of a family of large theropods within the larger group Carnosauria. The family name Allosauridae was created for this genus in 1878 by Othniel Charles Marsh,[21] but the term was largely unused until the 1970s in favor of Megalosauridae, another family of large theropods that eventually became a wastebasket taxon. This, along with the use of Antrodemus for Allosaurus during the same period, is a point that needs to be remembered when searching for information on Allosaurus in publications that predate James Madsen's 1976 monograph. Major publications using the name Megalosauridae instead of Allosauridae include Gilmore, 1920,[18] von Huene, 1926,[22] Romer, 1956 and 1966,[23][24] Steel, 1970,[25] and Walker, 1964.[26]