Its
syntype series consists of several separately discovered sauropod bones found in
Cambridgeshire in 1862, including two
caudal (tail) vertebrae (CAMSM J.29477 and CAMSM J.29478), the
distal end of a
tibia (CAMSM J.29483), a cast of the right
radius (CAMSM J.29482), a cast of
phalanx (CAMSM J.29479) and an
osteoderm (CAMSM J.29481). It was synonymised to
Ornithopsis humerocristatus by
Richard Lydekker in 1888 and to
Pelorosaurus by
Friedrich von Huene in 1909. Today it is considered a
nomen dubium. In 1908, because of these references,
Eberhard Fraas incorrectly assumed that the name was available for other species, so he used it, despite the other uses, for African material totally unrelated to the British finds. As a result, the name
Gigantosaurus factored into the convoluted taxonomic history of the dinosaurs
Barosaurus,
Tornieria, and
Janenschia. ==References==