Skip to content
EntityQ648615· pop 12· linked from 23 articles

Arctosaurus

Sign in to save

Arctosaurus is an extinct genus of archosauromorph, possibly an allokotosaurian, but was often classified as a sauropodomorph dinosaur between 1900 and 1976. Although it has also been classified as a theropod, recent review finds that the similarities it shares with theropods are spread throughout several groups of Late Triassic reptiles, and so it cannot be assigned any more specifically than to Archosauriformes. Other authors have suggested trilophosaurian affinities. Based on the size of the vertebra, a size of about in length is extrapolated.

Wikidata facts

Image
Arctosaurus osborni.jpg
Show 2 more facts
taxon name
Arctosaurus
Commons category
Arctosaurus
Sources (1)

via Wikidata · CC0

~1 min read

Article

2 sections
Contents
  • Discovery and naming
  • References

Arctosaurus is an extinct genus of archosauromorph, possibly an allokotosaurian, but was often classified as a sauropodomorph dinosaur between 1900 and 1976. Although it has also been classified as a theropod, recent review finds that the similarities it shares with theropods are spread throughout several groups of Late Triassic reptiles, and so it cannot be assigned any more specifically than to Archosauriformes. Other authors have suggested trilophosaurian affinities. Based on the size of the vertebra, a size of about in length is extrapolated.

== Discovery and naming == It is based on holotype NMING: F14878, a neck vertebra that was found in 1859 by Captain Sherard Osborn on Cameron Island, Nunavut, Canada, in Late Triassic-age rocks of the Heiberg Formation. In 2016, the material of Arctosaurus osborni was redescribed. The name Arctosaurus means "arctic lizard" in reference to the latitude where the holotype was discovered.

Connections

Categories