Open Paleo

Fulgurotherium

Huene, 1932 full-GOO-ro-THEE-ree-um Nomen dubium

Lightning beast; from Latin fulgur (lightning), referring to Lightning Ridge, Australia, where fossils were found, and Greek therion (beast)

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

Fulgurotherium is a dubious genus of ornithischian dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) Griman Creek Formation. It lived in what is now Australia.

Species

Fulgurotherium australe Huene, 1932 Nomen dubium

Type species

From Latin 'australe' meaning 'southern', referring to the animal's discovery in Australia.

Holotype
BMNH R3719 , Natural History Museum
Material
Distal end of a right femur, approximately 5 cm preserved
Horizon
Griman Creek Formation, Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous , 100.5–93.9 million years ago
Locality
Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia Huene (1932) records no mine or opal field for the holotype, where the district's other described specimens each carry one.

References

  1. Huene, F. V. (1932). Die fossile Reptil-Ordnung Saurischia, ihre Entwicklung und Geschichte [The fossil reptile order Saurischia, their development and history]. Monographien zur Geologie und Palaeontologie, serie 1 4(1-2): 1-361. huene1932a
  2. Paul, G. S. (2024). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs (3rd ed.). Princeton University Press.

    Source of the body length and mass estimates.

    paul2024a
  3. Agnolín, F. L.; Ezcurra, M. D.; Pais, D. F.; Salisbury, S. W. (2010). A reappraisal of the Cretaceous non-avian dinosaur faunas from Australia and New Zealand: evidence for their Gondwanan affinities. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 8(2): 257-300. Informa UK Limited. doi:10.1080/14772011003594870

    Finds the type femur undiagnostic and the species a nomen dubium, Iguanodontia indet., and invalidates the referral of other femora.

    agnolín2010a
  4. Bell, P. R.; Fanti, F.; Hart, L. J.; Milan, L. A.; Craven, S. J.; Birch, S. A.; Smith, E. T. (2019). Revised geology, age, and vertebrate diversity of the dinosaur-bearing Griman Creek Formation (Cenomanian), Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 514: 655-671. Elsevier BV. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.11.020

    Regards the species as a nomen dubium following Agnolin and colleagues (2010); identifies the holotype only as a non-iguanodontian ornithopod, though a figure caption labels it Iguanodontia indet.

    bell2019b
  5. Madzia, D.; Arbour, V. M.; Boyd, C. A.; Farke, A. A.; Cruzado-Caballero, P.; Evans, D. C. (2021). The phylogenetic nomenclature of ornithischian dinosaurs. PeerJ 9: e12362. doi:10.7717/peerj.12362

    Lists Fulgurotherium australe in Elasmaria under that clade's reference phylogeny.

    madzia2021a
  6. Rozadilla, S.; Agnolín, F. L.; Novas, F. E. (2019). Osteology of the Patagonian ornithopod Talenkauen santacrucensis (Dinosauria, Ornithischia). Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 17(24): 2043-2089. Informa UK Limited. doi:10.1080/14772019.2019.1582562

    Adds Fulgurotherium australe as a terminal and recovers it in an unresolved Elasmaria, the sister group of Iguanodontia.

    rozadilla2019a
  7. Bandeira, K. L. N.; Navarro, B. A.; Pêgas, R. V.; Brilhante, N. S.; Brum, A. S.; de Souza, L. G.; da Silva, R. C.; Gallo, V. (2024). A reassessment of the historical fossil findings from Bahia State (Northeast Brazil) reveals a diversified dinosaur fauna in the Lower Cretaceous of South America. Historical Biology 37(3): 548-589. Informa UK Limited. doi:10.1080/08912963.2024.2318406

    Recovers Fulgurotherium australe in an elasmarian polytomy with Gasparinisaura.

    bandeira2024a