Syngonosaurus Temporal range: late Albian ~ | |
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Vertebra of S. macrocercus as seen from two different angles | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Clade: | † Ornithischia |
Clade: | † Ornithopoda |
Clade: | † Iguanodontia |
Genus: | † Syngonosaurus Seeley, 1879 |
Species: | †S. macrocercus |
Binomial name | |
†Syngonosaurus macrocercus Seeley, 1879 | |
Synonyms | |
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Syngonosaurus is an extinct genus of ornithopod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous. It was an iguanodontian discovered in the Cambridge Greensand of England [1] and was first described in 1879. The type species, S. macrocercus, was described by British paleontologist Harry Seeley in 1879 [2] 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. [3]
In 1869 Harry Govier Seeley named several new species of Acanthopholis based on remains from the Cambridge Greensand, including A. macrocercus, based on specimens CAMSM B55570-55609. [4]
In 1879 Seeley named the genus Syngonosaurus based on part of the type material of Acanthopholis macrocercus. [2]
In 1999 Xabier Pereda-Superbiola and Paul M. Barrett reviewed all Acanthopholis material. They concluded that all species were nomina dubia whose syntype specimens were composites of non-diagnostic ankylosaur and ornithopod remains; including Syngonosaurus. [5]
Syngonosaurus was synonymised with Acanthopholis in 1999, but the genus was reinstated in a 2020 study, when Syngonosaurus and Eucercosaurus were reinterpreted as basal iguanodontians. [3]
Syngonosaurus was seen as an ankylosaur in both a 2001 publication [1] and a 2004 publication. [6] In 2020, Syngonosaurus was classified into Iguanodontia. [3]