Open Paleo

Caletodraco

Buffetaut et al., 2024 KAL-eh-tow-DRAH-ko

From 'Caleti', the name of the Celtic tribe that lived in the area around the type locality in Normandy, France, combined with Latin 'draco' meaning 'dragon'. The species name honors Nicolas Cottard, who discovered the specimen.

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

Caletodraco is a genus of furileusaurian abelisaurid dinosaur from Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) Chalk of the Pays de Caux, France. The type species is Caletodraco cottardi. It represents the first definitive furileusaurian named from outside of South America.

Diagnosis

  1. Transverse process of first caudal vertebra with a short anterior spine and a rounded, expanded fan-shaped semicircular posterodistal margin — unlike any other known furileusaurian
  2. Distally expanded transverse process of first caudal vertebra with a convex posterior distal margin and a hook-like anterodistal process
  3. Transverse process of first caudal vertebra orientated dorsally at ~45° to neural spine, with broad shaft slightly curved posteriorly

Species

Caletodraco cottardi Buffetaut et al., 2024

Type species

Named for Nicolas Cottard, who discovered the specimen and donated it to the museum where it is reposited.

Holotype
MHNH 2024.1.1 , Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle du Havre
Material
Sacrum with attached partially preserved ilia, first caudal vertebra, and various poorly preserved bones (possibly ribs); associated isolated theropod tooth found in matrix proximity
Horizon
Craie glauconieuse Formation, Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous , 100.5–93.9 million years ago
Locality
Saint-Jouin-Bruneval, Seine-Maritime, France

References

  1. Buffetaut, E.; Tong, H.; Girard, J.; Hoyez, B.; Párraga, J. (2024). Caletodraco cottardi: A New Furileusaurian Abelisaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Cenomanian Chalk of Normandy (North-Western France). Fossil Studies 2(3): 177-195. doi:10.3390/fossils2030009 buffetaut2024a
  2. Hoyez, B.; Girard, J.; Cottard, N. (2020). Le Cénomanien du littoral normand entre la valleuse d'Antifer et le cap de la Hève. Carnets Géologie.

    Names the Craie glauconieuse and calibrates it against the Mantelliceras dixoni zone and its sequence Ce3, which the describing paper cites as "C3" for the holotype.

    hoyez2020a
  3. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Theropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the mass and hip height estimates.

    jones2026c