Open Paleo

Lametasaurus

Matley, 1924 luh-MAY-tuh-SOR-us Nomen dubium

Named after the Lameta Formation of India where it was discovered, combined with Greek 'sauros' (lizard); meaning 'Lameta lizard'

72.2–66.0 million years ago Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Lametasaurus is a chimeric genus of dinosaur from the Lameta Formation of Jabalpur, India. The type species is L. indicus, erected by Matley (1924) on an associated series of vertebrae, limb bones, and dermal armor that is now considered to represent more than one animal. The syntype material is lost, and the genus is generally treated as a nomen dubium.

Under dispute

Matley's (1924) type series is a mixture. Walker (1964) assigns its pelvis and limb bones to carnosaurs and restricts the name Lametasaurus to the scutes, which Huene and Matley (1933) read as nodosaurian and Carrano and Sampson (2008) as probably titanosaurian. Later work reads the sacrum, ilia and tibia as abelisaurid: Wilson and colleagues (2003) refer them to Rajasaurus, and Carrano and Sampson (2008) consider Lametasaurus, Indosaurus and Rajasaurus the likeliest synonyms, Lametasaurus having priority. Novas and colleagues (2010) consider it a nomen dubium. With its elements read as ornithischian, sauropod and theropod, and the material lost, it is placed at Dinosauria incertae sedis.

Species

Lametasaurus indicus Matley, 1924 Nomen dubium

Type species

From Latin 'indicus' meaning 'Indian', referring to India, where the type material was excavated from the Lameta Formation near Jabalpur.

Syntype
Not catalogued (lost)
Material
A chimeric series comprising vertebral, limb, and dermal-armor elements.
Horizon
Carnosaur Bed Bed, Lameta Formation, Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous , 72.2–66.0 million years ago
Locality
Bara Simla, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India

References

  1. Matley, C. A. (1924). Note on an armoured dinosaur from the Lameta beds of Jubbulpore. Records of the Geological Survey of India 55(2): 105-109. matley1924a
  2. Huene, F. V.; Matley, C. A. (1933). The Cretaceous Saurischia and Ornithischia of the Central Provinces of India. Palaeontologica Indica (New Series), Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India 21(1): 1-74.

    Names the Carnosaur bed and places it at the top of the greensand zone, immediately under the Main Limestone.

    huene1933a
  3. Walker, A. D. (1964). Triassic reptiles from the Elgin area: Ornithosuchus and the origin of carnosaurs. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B, Biological Sciences 248: 53-134. doi:10.1098/rstb.1964.0009

    Assigns the endoskeletal elements of the type series to carnosaurs and restricts the name Lametasaurus to the scutes.

    walker1964a
  4. Wilson, J. A.; Sereno, P. C.; Srivastava, S.; Bhatt, D. K.; Khosla, A.; Sahni, A. (2003). A new abelisaurid (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from the Lameta Formation (Cretaceous, Maastrichtian) of India. Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan 31(1): 1-42.

    Refers the ilia and sacrum described as Lametasaurus to Rajasaurus.

    wilson2003a
  5. Carrano, M. T.; Sampson, S. D. (2008). The Phylogeny of Ceratosauria (Dinosauria: Theropoda). Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 6(2): 183-236. doi:10.1017/S1477201907002246

    Reads the sacrum, ilium and tibia as abelisaurid, the scutes as probably titanosaurian, and names Lametasaurus the senior of the likely synonyms Indosaurus and Rajasaurus.

    carrano2008a
  6. Novas, F. E.; Chatterjee, S.; Rudra, D. K.; Datta, P. M. (2010). Rahiolisaurus gujaratensis, n. gen. n. sp., A New Abelisaurid Theropod from the Late Cretaceous of India. Lecture Notes in Earth Sciences 45-62. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-10311-7_3

    Considers Lametasaurus indicus a nomen dubium, with Indosuchus raptorius and Indosaurus matleyi.

    novas2010b
  7. D'Emic, M. D.; Wilson, J. A.; Chatterjee, S. (2009). The titanosaur (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) osteoderm record: review and first definitive specimen from India. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 29(1): 165-177. doi:10.1671/039.029.0131

    Records that Lametasaurus has been called a nomen dubium both as an ankylosaur and as a theropod, and identifies the club-shaped plate once referred to it as a titanosaur osteoderm.

    d'emic2009a