A re-evaluation of the historical ‘dinosaur’ remains from the Middle-Upper Triassic of Poland

Abstract

The so-called historical Polish discoveries of Triassic ‘dinosaurs’ have been repeatedly cited in papers and popular science books. Here, we re-evaluate each historical and purported Triassic dinosaur find from Poland. Additionaly, we describe several supposed ‘dinosaur’ bones collected by Polish geologists but only briefly mentioned: in regional geological journals, on collection labels, or in field notes. We attempt to assign all investigated specimens to the least inclusive taxon possible. Our revision indicates that part of this material represents non-dinosaur archosauromorph taxa. Most of the analysed specimens are fragmentary bones or isolated teeth and are indistinguishable from skeletal elements described from other well-known Triassic archosauromorph taxa. We conclude that fossils of dinosauriforms are present in the Upper Triassic of Silesia and Holy Cross Mountains. New analysis of Velocipes guerichi von Huene, 1932 holotype specimen from Kocury shows that it is the proximal part of fibula of a medium-sized theropod (or even neotheropod). Formally undescribed part of dinosauriform limb bone from the Holy Cross Mountains and V. guerichi from Silesia are the only identifiable dinosauromorph skeletal remains recognised in the Polish Triassic discovered prior to the description of Silesaurus opolensis Dzik, 2003 from the Upper Carnian of Krasiejów.

Key words:

• Archosauromorpha
• Dinosauriformes
• Theropoda
• Triassic
• Silesia
• Holy Cross Mountains

Acknowledgements

We thank Dawid Mazurek for inspiration to revise Velocipes guerichi expressed at the popular science forum Dinozaury.com. Jakub Baczyński, Ludwik Gąsiorowski and Jerzy Dzik organised the travel to Hamburg. Andrea Cau and Heinrich Mallison kindly provided illustrations of some fossils. We thank Grzegorz Pieńkowski (Polish Geological Institute-National Research Institute, Warsaw) for useful discussion about geology of the Upper Triassic of the Holy Cross Mountains. Tomasz Sulej (Institute of Paleobiology PAN) organised the first trip to Kocury. We thank Stephen L. Brusatte (School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh), Richard J. Butler (School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham), Paul Barrett (Earth Sciences Department, Natural History Museum, London), Ulrich Kotthoff (Geological-Palaeontological Institute and Museum in Hamburg), Sven Sachs (Naturkunde-Museum Bielefeld), Barbara Studencka (Museum of the Earth, PAS, Warsaw), Daniela Schwarz-Wings (Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin), Davit Vasilyan (Eberhard-Karls-University Tübingen, Department of Geosciences, Tübingen), Piotr Szrek (Polish Geological Institute-National Research Institute, Warsaw) for help in finding specimens in different museums and institutions. Detailed comments made by the anonymous reviewer greatly improved the manuscript.