Editing Supersaurus (section)

===Ultrasauros===
[[File:Supersaurus vivianae dorsal vertebra.JPG|thumb|left|upright|Dorsal vertebra BYU 9044, the holotype of ''Ultrasauros'', now assigned to ''Supersaurus'' [[Museum of Ancient Life]]]]
Jensen, who described the original ''Supersaurus'' specimen, simultaneously reported the discovery of another gigantic sauropod, which would later be named "Ultrasaurus" ''macintoshi''<ref name="jensen1985">{{Cite journal |last=Jensen |first=J.A. |author-link=James A. Jensen |year=1985 |title=Three new sauropod dinosaurs from the Upper Jurassic of Colorado |journal=The Great Basin Naturalist |volume=45 |issue=4 |pages=697–709 |doi=10.5962/bhl.part.4439 |doi-access=free}}</ref> (later renamed ''Ultrasauros macintoshi''). The type specimen (the specimen used to define a new [[species]]) of ''Ultrasauros'', being a backbone (dorsal [[vertebra]], labeled BYU 9044), was later found to have come from ''Supersaurus''. In fact, it probably belonged to the original ''Supersaurus'' specimen, which was discovered in the same quarry in 1972. Therefore, ''Ultrasauros'' became a [[junior synonym]] of ''Supersaurus'', which had been named first and thus retains priority, and the name ''Ultrasauros'' was abandoned.<ref name="curticeetal1996">{{Cite book |last1=Curtice |first1=Brian D. |url=http://www.miketaylor.org.uk/tmp/CurticeEtAl1996-ultrasauros.pdf |title=The Continental Jurassic: Transactions of the Continental Jurassic Symposium |last2=Stadtman |first2=Kenneth L. |last3=Curtice |first3=Linda J. |publisher=Museum of Northern Arizona Bulletin |year=1996 |editor-last=Morales |editor-first=M. |volume=60 |pages=87–95 |chapter=A re-assessment of ''Ultrasauros macintoshi'' (Jensen, 1985)}}</ref>

Other bones that were found at the same location and originally thought to belong to ''Ultrasauros'', like a shoulder girdle ([[scapula|scapulocoracoid]], BYU 9462), actually belonged to ''[[Brachiosaurus]]'', possibly a large specimen of ''Brachiosaurus altithorax''.<ref name="curticeetal1996"/> The ''Brachiosaurus'' bones indicate a large, but not record-breaking individual, a little larger than the "''Brachiosaurus" brancai'' (''[[Giraffatitan]] brancai'') mount in the [[Natural History Museum, Berlin|Berlin's Natural History Museum]].<ref name="Paul1988">{{cite journal |last=Paul |first=G.S. |author-link=Gregory S. Paul |year=1988 |title=The brachiosaur giants of the Morrison and Tendaguru with a description of a new subgenus, ''Giraffatitan'', and a comparison of the world's largest dinosaurs |url=http://gspauldino.com/HunteriaBrachio.pdf |journal=Hunteria |volume=2 |issue=3 |pages=1–14}}</ref>

Originally, these ''Supersaurus'' and ''Brachiosaurus'' bones were believed to represent a single dinosaur that was estimated to reach about {{convert|25|to|30|m|sp=us}} long, {{Convert|8|m|sp=us}} high at the shoulder, {{Convert|15|m|sp=us}} in total height, and weighing maybe {{cvt|70|MT|ST}}. At the time, mass estimates ranged up to 180&nbsp;tons,<ref>{{cite book|last=McGowan|first=C.|year=1992|title=Dinosaurs, Spitfires and Sea Dragons|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0674207707}}</ref> which placed it in the same category as the [[blue whale]] and the equally problematic ''[[Bruhathkayosaurus]]''.

The naming of the [[Chimera (paleontology)|chimeric]] ''Ultrasauros'' has a similarly complicated history. ''Ultrasaurus'' (with the final "u") was the original choice, and was widely used by the media after the discovery in 1979. However, the name of a new [[species]] must be published with a description to become official.<ref name=SVPOW/>
[[File:Dystylosaurus BYU 4503.jpg|thumb|Holotype vertebrae of ''Dystylosaurus'', junior synonym of ''Supersaurus'']]
Before Jim Jensen published his discovery in 1985, another paleontologist, Kim Haang Mook, used the name ''[[Ultrasaurus]]'' in a 1983 publication to describe what he believed was a giant dinosaur in [[South Korea]]. This was a different, much smaller dinosaur than Jensen's find, but Kim thought it represented a similarly gigantic animal because he confused a [[humerus]] for an [[ulna]]. While the logic of naming was incorrect, the ''Ultrasaurus'' from Kim's find fulfilled the requirements for naming and became regarded as a legitimate, if dubious genus.<ref name=Paul1988/><ref name=SVPOW/> Thus, because Jensen did not publish his own "Ultrasaurus" find until 1985, Kim's use retained its official priority of name, and Jensen was forced to choose a new name (in technical terms, his original choice was "preoccupied" by Kim's sauropod). In 1991, at his suggestion, George Olshevsky changed one letter, and renamed Jensen's sauropod ''Ultrasauros'', with the final "o".<ref name=SVPOW>{{cite web|date=June 13, 2019|title=Supersaurus, Ultrasaurus and Dystylosaurus in 2019, part 1: what we know now|website=Sauropod Vertebra Picture of the Week|url=https://svpow.com/2019/06/13/supersaurus-ultrasaurus-and-dystylosaurus-in-2019-part-1-what-we-know-now/}}</ref>

When it was later discovered that the new name referred to bones from two separate, and already known species, the name ''Ultrasauros'' was considered invalid and became a junior synonym for ''Supersaurus''. Since the holotype of the ''Ultrasaurus'' was a dorsal vertebrae of the ''Supersaurus'', so  ''Ultrasauros'' is not a junior synonym for ''Brachiosaurus''. The name ''Supersaurus'' was kept instead of ''Ultrasaurus'' as the animal is a diplodocid and ''Ultrasaurus'' had always referred to a brachiosaurid.<ref name="curticeetal1996"/>