巴克兰没有给出斑龙的种名,这在19世纪早期并不少见,当时仍视属为更重要的概念。1826年,费迪南德·冯·里特根(英语:Ferdinand August Maria Franz von Ritgen)给这只恐龙起了一个完整的种名,即科氏斑龙(Megalosaurus conybeari),[19]然而后期研究者并未过多使用此名,故其现被视为遗失名。一年后(即1827年),吉迪恩·曼特尔将斑龙纳入他对英国东南部的地质调查中,并为之取了现在的有效种名――巴氏斑龙(Megalosaurus bucklandii)。[20]直到现在,Megalosaurus bucklandi这一形式仍经常被使用,它是克里斯蒂安·埃里希·赫尔曼·冯·迈尔(英语:Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer)1832年的一个笔误,其创造者有时被误认为冯·里根,但更具原创性的M. bucklandii具有优先权。[21]
1840年左右,英国流行将物种变迁论(英语:Transmutation of species)的概念作为属随着时间推移而逐渐发展的一部分,正如罗伯特·钱伯斯的作品所表达的那样。作为回应,理查德·欧文于1841年8月2日在英国科学促进协会的一次演讲中称,某些史前爬行动物类群的组织行为已达到现代哺乳动物的水平,表明物种不会发生变化。欧文介绍了三个这种高水平爬行动物的例子:禽龙、林龙和斑龙。“蜥蜴模型”从此被完全废弃,恐龙也被认为拥有直立姿态和高速新陈代谢。这也意味着先前的尺寸估算值被夸大了。欧文通过简单地增加已知椎骨长度(而非根据蜥蜴推测)而得出斑龙的总身长为30英尺。1842年出版的讲座印刷版中,欧文将这三种爬行动物归入一个单独的分类群:恐龙总目。因此斑龙是最早被归入恐龙的三个属之一。[23]
大多数文献一般按照欧文1841年估计而给出三十英尺或九米的体长。[37]由于斑龙化石缺乏连接的背椎序列,因此很难确定其真实体型。1984年,大卫·诺曼(英语:David B. Norman)提出斑龙身长为7到8米。[38]1988年,格雷戈里·保罗(英语:Gregory S. Paul)根据股骨长76厘米将其体重暂时估计为1.1吨。[39]21世纪早期的趋势是,将材料限制在选模标本的范围内、产生更低的估计值并忽略不确定的异常值。保罗于2010年提出斑龙长6米、重700公斤。[40]然而,本森在同年声称,尽管斑龙体型中等,但仍是中侏罗世的最大兽脚类之一。标本BMNH 31806是一根803毫米长的股骨,使用J·F·安德森(J. F. Anderson)的外推法可算出这条斑龙体重为943公斤——该方法是为哺乳动物所优化的,往往低估兽脚类至少三分之一的体重。此外,股骨OUM J13561长约86厘米。[29]
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