Owen heavily disagreed with the interpretations of Seeley that the vertebrae were open and lightly constructed and showed relationships to birds and pterosaurs, considering the name Ornithopsis to be glaringly false and thus suggesting his new names should have priority over Seeley's older designations. Owen then reassigned B. magnus to the genus Chondrosteosaurus as Chondrosteosaurus magnus in 1876, considering it closely related to the type species Chondrosteosaurus gigas from the Wealden.
Owen strongly disagreed with Seeley's interpretations of vertebrae as open and lightly constructed, seeing them as related to birds and pterosaurs. He considered the name Ornithopsis to be inaccurate and proposed his own names for these species, suggesting they should supersede Seeley's older designations. Owen then reassigned B. magnus to the genus Chondrosteosaurus as Chondrosteosaurus magnus in 1876, considering it closely related to the type species Chondrosteosaurus gigas from the Wealden.