Fylax
Keeper; from modern Greek fýlax meaning keeper or guardian
Late Cretaceous stages
Fylax is a genus of hadrosauroid ornithopod from the Late Cretaceous Figuerola Formation of Spain. The genus contains a single species, Fylax thyrakolasus, known from a nearly complete left dentary.
Diagnosis
- Dorsal region of the coronoid process at least as wide anteroposteriorly as 30% of dental battery length.
- Coronoid process inclined anteriorly less than 80° relative to the alveolar margin of the dentary.
- Steeply inclined and flat occlusal surface of the dental battery.
- Dentary tooth crowns 2.8-3.3 times taller than wide, without marginal denticles and with a pair of major long ridges on the enameled lingual surface.
Species
Fylax thyrakolasus Prieto-Márquez & Carrera Farias, 2021
Type species
From Ancient Greek 'thyra' meaning 'gate' and 'kolasi' meaning 'hell', creating the combination 'keeper of the gates of hell', in reference to this taxon's proximity to the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction event.
- Holotype
- IPS-36338 , Institut Català de Paleontologia "Miquel Crusafont", Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
- Material
- Well preserved hadrosauroid dentary from uppermost Maastrichtian strata (within chron C29r), Àger syncline, southern Pyrenees.
- Horizon
- Figuerola Formation, Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous , 72.2–66.0 million years ago
- Locality
- Fontllonga-R, Lleida, Spain
References
- Prieto-Márquez, A.; Carrera Farias, M. (2021). The late-surviving early diverging Ibero-Armorican 'duck-billed' dinosaur Fylax and the role of the Late Cretaceous European Archipelago in hadrosauroid biogeography. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 66. Polska Akademia Nauk Instytut Paleobiologii (Institute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences). doi:10.4202/app.00821.2020 prieto-márquez2021a
-
Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Ornithischians. Princeton University Press.
Source of the body length estimate.
jones2026a