Cryptosaurus Temporal range: Oxfordian | |
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Femur | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Order: | † Ornithischia |
Clade: | † Thyreophora |
Suborder: | † Ankylosauria |
Genus: | † Cryptosaurus Seeley, 1869 |
Species: | †C. eumerus |
Binomial name | |
†Cryptosaurus eumerus Seeley, 1875 | |
Synonyms | |
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Cryptosaurus (meaning "hidden lizard") [1] is a dubious genus of dinosaur known from a partial femur from the Late Jurassic of England. The sole species is Cryptosaurus eumerus.
The femur was found by the geologist Lucas Ewbank and donated by him to the Woodwardian Museum at Cambridge in 1869. Cryptosaurus was the same year named by British paleontologist Harry Seeley; the type species is Cryptosaurus eumerus. [2] The genus name is derived from Greek kryptos, "hidden", a reference to the rarity of the find. The specific name means "well-formed thigh" in Greek, a reference to the stout build of the bone. The description of 1869, part of a catalogue of the Cambridge University collection, was rather minimal, consisting of the single sentence "On Shelf g is temporarily placed the femur of a Dinosaur from the Oxford Clay, Cryptosaurus eumerus". From this it is sometimes concluded that the name remained a nomen nudum until a full description by Seeley in 1875. [3]
The holotype, CAMSM J.46882, [4] was discovered in the Great Gransden brick pit, in strata of the Ampthill Clay Formation, dating from the upper Oxfordian. The right femur is about 33 centimetres long and has a thick shaft. It belonged to an adult or at least subadult individual, meaning that the species was rather small.
Seeley thought that Cryptosaurus was a relative of Iguanodon , the first such discovered from the Oxford Clay — hence the generic name. Friedrich von Huene classified it in the Camptosauridae in 1909. The work of Peter Galton however, showed that Cryptosaurus is an ankylosaurian of unknown affinities. [5] Today it is commonly considered to be a nomen dubium because of the limited remains.
Cryptosaurus was for a long time known as Cryptodraco, which is an unnecessary replacement name. In 1889, Richard Lydekker renamed Cryptosaurus as he believed the name Cryptosaurus was already previously in use for another animal ( Cystosaurus Geoffroy, described in 1832). [6] This was in error, a mistake originally caused by a wrong spelling of Cystosaurus in the French Bibliothèque universelle des sciences, belles-lettres, et arts, and the name Cryptosaurus has precedence.
Megalosaurus is an extinct genus of large carnivorous theropod dinosaurs of the Middle Jurassic period of southern England. Although fossils from other areas have been assigned to the genus, the only certain remains of Megalosaurus come from Oxfordshire and date to the late Middle Jurassic.
Gigantosaurus is a dubious genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay Formation of England. The type species, Gigantosaurus megalonyx, was named and described by Harry Govier Seeley in 1869. Its syntype series consists of several separately discovered sauropod bones found in Cambridgeshire, including two caudal (tail) vertebrae, the distal end of a tibia, a cast of the right radius, a cast of phalanx and an osteoderm. 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.
Pelorosaurus is a genus of titanosauriform sauropod dinosaur. Remains referred to Pelorosaurus date from the Early Cretaceous period, about 140-125 million years ago, and have been found in England and Portugal. Thomas Holtz estimated its length at 24 meters.
Acanthopholis is a genus of ankylosaurian dinosaur in the family Nodosauridae that lived during the Late Cretaceous Period of England. A single species, A. horrida, exists.
Dacentrurus, originally known as Omosaurus, is a genus of stegosaurian dinosaur from the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous of Europe. Its type species, Omosaurus armatus, was named in 1875, based on a skeleton found in a clay pit in the Kimmeridge Clay in Swindon, England. In 1902 the genus was renamed Dacentrurus because the name Omosaurus had already been used for a crocodylian. After 1875, half a dozen other species would be named but perhaps only Dacentrurus armatus is valid. Finds of this animal have been limited and much of its appearance is uncertain. It was a heavily built quadrupedal herbivore, adorned with plates and spikes, reaching 8–9 metres (26–30 ft) in length and 5 metric tons in body mass.
Callovosaurus is a genus of iguanodontian dinosaur known from most of a left thigh bone discovered in Middle Jurassic-age rocks of England. At times, it has been considered dubious or a valid genus of basal iguanodontian, perhaps a dryosaurid.
Lexovisaurus is a genus of stegosaur from mid-to-Late Jurassic Europe, 165.7-164.7 mya. Fossils of limb bones and armor fragments have been found in middle to late Jurassic-aged strata of England.
Anoplosaurus is an extinct genus of herbivorous nodosaurid dinosaur, from the late Albian-age Lower Cretaceous Cambridge Greensand of Cambridgeshire, England. It has in the past been classified with either the armored dinosaurs or the ornithopods, but current thought has been in agreement with the "armored dinosaur" interpretation, placing it in the Ankylosauria.
Aristosuchus is a genus of small coelurosaurian dinosaur whose name was derived from the Greek ἄριστος and σουχος. It shared many characteristics with birds.
Bothriospondylus is a dubious genus of neosauropod sauropod dinosaur. It lived during the Late Jurassic.
Sarcolestes is an extinct genus of ankylosaurian ornithischian dinosaur from the Oxford Clay of England. The current type and only species is S. leedsi, and the holotype is a single partial left mandible. The genus and species were named in 1893 by Richard Lydekker, who thought they belonged to a theropod.
Syngonosaurus is an extinct genus of ornithopod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous. It was an iguanodontian discovered in England and was first described in 1879. The type species, S. macrocercus, was described by British paleontologist Harry Seeley in 1879 and it was later synonymised with Acanthopholis, but the genus was reinstated in a 2020 study, when Syngonosaurus and Eucercosaurus were reinterpreted as basal iguanodontians.
Cumnoria is a genus of herbivorous iguanodontian dinosaur. It was a basal iguanodontian that lived during the Late Jurassic period in what is now Oxfordshire, United Kingdom.
"Ischyrosaurus" was a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Kimmeridgian-age Upper Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay of Dorset, England.
Ornithopsis was a medium-sized Early Cretaceous sauropod dinosaur, from England. The type species, which is the only species seen as valid today, is O. hulkei.
Macrurosaurus is the name given to a genus of dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous. It was a titanosauriform which lived in what is now England. The type species, M. semnus, was named in 1876. A second species, M. platypus, may also exist.
Priodontognathus was a genus of ankylosaurian dinosaur possibly from the Oxfordian-age Upper Jurassic Lower Calcareous Grit of Yorkshire, England. It is a dubious genus based on a maxilla, and has been erroneously mixed up with iguanodonts and stegosaurs.
Colymbosaurus is a genus of cryptoclidid plesiosaur from the Late Jurassic (Callovian-Tithonian) of the UK and Svalbard, Norway. There are two currently recognized species, C. megadeirus and C. svalbardensis. Both species are relatively medium-sized plesiosaurs, reaching 5 metres (16 ft) in length and 700 kilograms (1,500 lb) in body mass.
Duriatitan is a genus of titanosauriform sauropod dinosaur that lived in the Late Jurassic in what is now England. The holotype specimen of Duriatitan, BMNH 44635, is a partial left upper arm bone which was found by R.I. Smith near Sandsfoot in the lower Kimmeridge Clay from Dorset. The type species, D. humerocristatus, was described in 1874 by John Hulke as a species of Cetiosaurus and was noted as being similar to that of Gigantosaurus. The specific name refers to the deltopectoral crest, crista, on the upper arm bone, humerus. The specimen was assigned to its own genus by Paul M. Barrett, Roger B.J. Benson and Paul Upchurch in 2010. The generic name is derived from the Latin name for Dorset, Duria, and Greek Titan. Thomas Holtz estimated its length at 25 meters (82 ft).
Lonchodraco is a genus of lonchodraconid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous of southern England. The genus includes species that were previously assigned to other genera.