Open Paleo

Burianosaurus

Madzia et al., 2017 BOO-ree-AN-o-SOR-us

Named in honor of Czech paleoartist Zdeněk Burian, combined with Greek 'sauros' meaning 'lizard'.

100.5–93.9 million years ago Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Burianosaurus is an extinct genus of ornithopod dinosaur that lived during the Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous period in what is now the Czech Republic, being the first validly named dinosaur from that country. The type species, B. augustai, was named in 2017; the genus name honors the Czech paleoartist Zdeněk Burian, and the species name honors the Czech paleontologist Josef Augusta. The holotype specimen is a femur discovered in sediments belonging to the Peruc-Korycany Formation in 2003, which was described as possibly belonging to an iguanodont in 2005.

Diagnosis

  1. Femur gracile (Femoral Gracility Index = 0.195), with diameter less than 15% of total length
  2. Femoral shaft straight in both medial and lateral views
  3. Insertion scar for M. caudofemoralis longus appressed to the base of the fourth trochanter
  4. In medial view the distal condyles do not extend the shaft anteriorly
  5. Intercondylar extensor groove relatively deep and narrow, forming a mediolaterally narrow, proximodistally elongate, anteroposteriorly deep channel

Species

Burianosaurus augustai Madzia et al., 2017

Type species

Named for the Czech paleontologist Josef Augusta.

Holotype
NMP Ob 203 , National Museum, Prague
Material
A well-preserved, nearly complete left femur.
Horizon
Korycany Member, Peruc-Korycany Formation, Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous , 100.5–93.9 million years ago
Locality
Nová Lhota near Mezholezy, Kutná Hora, Czechia Madzia and colleagues (2017) give the horizon as the "Korycany Beds of the Peruc-Korycany Formation", and Fejfar and colleagues (2005) plot the femur at the level of the Korycany Beds in near-shore marine sediments of late Cenomanian age.

References

  1. Madzia, D.; Boyd, C. A.; Mazuch, M. (2017). A basal ornithopod dinosaur from the Cenomanian of the Czech Republic. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 16(11): 967-979. Informa UK Limited. doi:10.1080/14772019.2017.1371258 madzia2017a
  2. Fejfar, O.; Košťák, M.; Kvaček, J.; Mazuch, M.; Moučka, M. (2005). First Cenomanian dinosaur from Central Europe (Czech Republic). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 50(2): 295-300.

    The stratigraphy Madzia follows. Places the dinosaur remains in the near-shore marine sediments of the Peruc-Korycany Formation, its Fig. 2 at the level of the Korycany Beds.

    fejfar2005a