Torvosaurus

The name Torvosaurus only dates back to 1979, but fossils that would be attributed to it have been found in Late Jurassic rocks for well over a century in the western US, Tanzania, and more recently western Europe. The name Torvosaurus was given to fossils found in the famous Dry Mesa Quarry, a site in the Morrison Formation filled with large sauropod remains (the type specimen of Supersaurus was also found here).

Unfortunately all of the material in Dry Mesa was disarticulated, so Torvosaurus has come to light in bits and pieces. In the 1990s more isolated material was found in Como Bluff, Wyoming (originally given the names Edmarka and Brontoraptor), which added more material, including highly robust hind-limb elements.

In 2012, a single specimen that was 55% complete was discovered in Colorado. This specimen, nicknamed Elvis, is on display at the Museum of Natural History & Science in Cincinnati, although we are still waiting on a more complete description of the specimen (science and writing take time!).

Meanwhile, a second species was formally described from Portugal in 2014: Torvosaurus gurneyi (fun fact, T. gurneyi was named in honor of artist James Gurney, who created the Dinotopia books). T. gurneyi is still pretty scrappy, but at least it has a name now - the African material still sits as isolated bones, sometimes referred to Torvosaurus sp., sometimes just as “indeterminate megalosaur.”