Open Paleo

Anasazisaurus

Hunt & Lucas, 1993 AH-nuh-SAH-zee-SOR-uhs /ˌɑːnəˌsɑːziˈsɔːrəs/

Named for the Anasazi (Ancestral Pueblo Native Americans) of the American Southwest, combined with Greek 'sauros' meaning 'lizard', meaning 'Anasazi lizard'.

83.6–72.2 million years ago Campanian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Anasazisaurus is a genus of saurolophine hadrosaurid ("duckbill") ornithopod dinosaur that lived about 74 million years ago, in the Late Cretaceous Period. It was found in the Farmington Member of the Kirtland Formation, in the San Juan Basin of New Mexico, United States. Only a partial skull has been found to date. It was first described as a specimen of Kritosaurus by Jack Horner, and has been intertwined with Kritosaurus since its description. It is known for its short nasal crest, which stuck out above and between its eyes for a short distance.

Diagnosis

  1. Short, posteriorly folded nasal crest that is above the level of the frontals but does not extend posterior to the anterior end of the frontals

Species

Anasazisaurus horneri Hunt & Lucas, 1993

Type species

Named for Jack Horner, the influential paleontologist who first described the skull in 1992.

Holotype
BYU 12950 , Earth Sciences Museum, Brigham Young University
Material
Partial skull (Farmington Member equivalent).
Horizon
Farmington Member, Kirtland Formation, Campanian, Late Cretaceous , 83.6–72.2 million years ago
Locality
Betonnie Tsosie Wash, New Mexico, United States

References

  1. Hunt, A. P.; Lucas, S. G. (1993). Cretaceous vertebrates of New Mexico. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 2: 77-91. hunt1993a
  2. Lucas, S. G.; Spielmann, J. A.; Sullivan, R. M.; Hunt, A. P.; Gates, T. (2006). Anasazisaurus, a hadrosaurian dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of New Mexico. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin.

    Source of the Farmington Member assignment and the Betonnie Tsosie Wash locality.

    lucas2006b
  3. Prieto-Márquez, A. (2013). Skeletal morphology of Kritosaurus navajovius (Dinosauria: Hadrosauridae) from the Late Cretaceous of the North American south-west, with an evaluation of the phylogenetic systematics and biogeography of Kritosaurini. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 12(2): 133-175. Informa UK Limited. doi:10.1080/14772019.2013.770417

    Synonymized Anasazisaurus into Kritosaurus.

    prieto-márquez2013c
  4. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Ornithischians. Princeton University Press.

    Treats Anasazisaurus as a synonym of Kritosaurus.

    jones2026a