Morinosaurus
Named for the Morini, an ancient people of northern France in whose territory the fossils were found, combined with Greek 'sauros' meaning 'lizard'.
Late Jurassic stages
Morinosaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from an unnamed formation of Kimmeridgian-aged (Late Jurassic) rocks from Boulogne-sur-Mer, Département du Pas-de-Calais, France. It is an obscure tooth genus sometimes referred to the Early Cretaceous English wastebasket taxon Pelorosaurus.
Diagnosis
- Strong truncature at apex of internal border, resembling Hylaeosaurus
- External edge rounded, curved toward apex; oblique bevel surface on external edge
- Compressed tooth with elliptical cross-section; lateral faces rounded at external edge
- Enamel continues on truncature surface, indicating normal character not produced by wear
- Minimal dentin exposure; main vascular foramen visible
Species
Morinosaurus typus Sauvage, 1874
Type species
Likely from Latin 'typus' meaning 'type'.
- Holotype
- Not catalogued (lost)
- Material
- Single tooth; never assigned a catalog number
- Horizon
- Kimmeridgian, Late Jurassic , 154.8–149.2 million years ago
- Locality
- Hauts-de-France, France Where the tooth came from was never recorded. Sauvage (1874) gives an ammonite zone and the Boulonnais, naming no site and no unit, and the specimen itself is lost.
References
-
Sauvage, H. E. (1874). Mémoire sur les dinosauriens et les crocodiliens des terrains jurassiques de Boulogne-sur-Mer [Memoir on the dinosaurs and crocodilians of the Jurassic deposits of Boulogne-sur-mer]. Mémoires de la Société Géologique de France, série 2 10(2): 1-57.
Places the type tooth in the upper Jurassic formations of Boulogne, naming no formation and no locality within the area.
sauvage1874a