Open Paleo

Lophostropheus

Ezcurra & Cuny, 2007 LOH-fuh-STROH-fee-uhs /ˌloʊfəˈstroʊfiːəs/

From Greek 'lophè' meaning 'crest' and 'stropheus' meaning 'pertaining to the vertebrae', giving the meaning 'crest vertebrae', referring to the prominent dorsal and ventral laminae on the cranial cervical vertebrae.

205.7–199.5 million years ago Rhaetian–Hettangian, Late Triassic–Early Jurassic
Late Triassic and Early Jurassic stages

Lophostropheus is an extinct genus of coelophysoid theropod dinosaur that lived approximately 205.6 to 196.5 million years ago during the boundary between the Late Triassic Period and the Early Jurassic Period, in what is now Normandy, France. Lophostropheus is one of the few dinosaurs that may have survived the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event.

Under dispute

Lophostropheus airelensis is recovered within Coelophysoidea as the sister of Coelophysidae by its describers (Ezcurra and Cuny, 2007) and at the base of Coelophysoidea by Ezcurra (2012), while Baron (2024) recovers it as the sister of Liliensternus in an unresolved polytomy at the base of Neotheropoda, with Dilophosaurus, the coelophysids and Averostra.

Diagnosis

  1. Moderately convex cranial articular surface of cranial postaxial cervical vertebrae
  2. Large and oval lateral fossa on last dorsal vertebral centrum
  3. Dorsoventrally well-extended hyposphene in last dorsal vertebra
  4. Incipient concavity on cranial articular surface of cranial caudal vertebrae
  5. Constant length of caudal vertebrae along the tail
  6. Vertical ridge above acetabular crest on ilium

Species

Lophostropheus airelensis Ezcurra & Cuny, 2007

Type species

Named for the Airel Quarry in Normandy, France, where the holotype specimen was discovered.

Holotype
Not catalogued , Université de Caen Normandie (uncatalogued)
Material
Incomplete skeleton; one tooth, five cervicals, two caudal dorsals, four sacrals plus caudal vertebrae, parts of ilia, ischia, proximal pubes; deposited without collection number
Horizon
Moon-Airel Formation, Rhaetian–Hettangian, Late Triassic–Early Jurassic , 205.7–199.5 million years ago
Locality
Airel Quarry, Manche, France

References

  1. Ezcurra, M. D.; Cuny, G. (2007). The coelophysoid Lophostropheus airelensis, gen. nov.: a review of the systematics of "Liliensternus" airelensis from the Triassic-Jurassic outcrops of Normandy (France). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 27(1): 73-86. Informa UK Limited. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2007)27[73:tclagn]2.0.co;2

    Named Lophostropheus and recovered it as the sister of Coelophysidae.

    ezcurra2007a
  2. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Theropods. Princeton University Press.

    Places Lophostropheus close to Dilophosaurus.

    jones2026c
  3. Ezcurra, M. D. (2012). Phylogenetic analysis of Late Triassic–Early Jurassic neotheropod dinosaurs: implications for the early theropod radiation. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 72nd Annual Meeting 91.

    Recovered Lophostropheus at the base of Coelophysoidea.

    ezcurra2012a
  4. Baron, M. G. (2024). A new name for old bones: A reassessment of Early Jurassic theropod remains from Dorset, England. Palaeontologia Electronica 27(1): 1-12. Coquina Press. doi:10.26879/1346

    Recovered Lophostropheus as the sister of Liliensternus in a basal neotheropod polytomy.

    baron2024a