Brohisaurus
From the Brohi people of the Kirthar Range area of Balochistan and Greek sauros (lizard); meaning "Brohi lizard".
Brohisaurus is a problematic sauropod erected by Malkani (2003) on highly fragmentary, weathered, ferruginous-replaced remains (femoral shaft fragments, a proximal fibula, broken metapodials and ribs, and possible neural-arch laminae) from the Sembar Formation of the Kirthar Range, Balochistan, Pakistan. Malkani described the names as "purely tentative" and the material lacks unambiguous diagnostic features. Brohisaurus is generally regarded as a nomen dubium. A 2025 paper proposing an ankylosaurian reinterpretation appeared in a predatory-publisher venue and has not achieved community consensus; it is not adopted.
Species
Brohisaurus kirthari Malkani, 2003 Nomen dubium
Type species
From the Kirthar Range, the host locality of the type material.
- Holotype
- MSM-86-K, MSM-87-K, MSM-88-K, MSM-89-K, MSM-90-K, MSM-91-K, MSM-92-K, MSM-93-K, MSM-94-K, MSM-96-K, MSM-97-K, MSM-98-K, MSM-101-K, MSM-102-K, MSM-103-K, MSM-104-K, MSM-105-K, MSM-106-K , Geological Survey of Pakistan
- Material
- Highly fragmentary postcranial remains including a femoral shaft cross-section, proximal fibula, metatarsal/metacarpal cross-sections, broken rib pieces, and possible neural-arch lamina fragments.
- Notes
- Malkani (2003) gives the holotype as eighteen numbered fragments from the Sun Chaku locality; MSM-95-K, from Lakha Pir Charo, is a referred specimen.
- Horizon
- lower Sembar Formation, Kimmeridgian, Late Jurassic , 154.8–149.2 million years ago
- Locality
- Sun Chaku, Balochistan, Pakistan
References
-
Malkani, M. S. (2003). First Jurassic dinosaur fossils found from Kirthar Range, Khuzdar District, Balochistan, Pakistan. Geological Bulletin of the University of Peshawar 36: 73-83.
Erects Brohisaurus kirthari on fragmentary postcranial material; author explicitly flags the names as tentative.
malkani2003a