Open Paleo

Ostafrikasaurus

Buffetaut, 2012 Nomen dubium

From 'Deutsch-Ostafrika', the German name for the colony containing Tendaguru, and Greek 'sauros' ('lizard'); meaning 'East Africa lizard'.

149.2–143.1 million years ago Tithonian, Late Jurassic
Late Jurassic stages

Ostafrikasaurus is a potentially dubious genus of theropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic period of what is now Lindi Region, Tanzania. It is known only from fossil teeth discovered sometime between 1909 and 1912, during an expedition to the Tendaguru Formation by the Natural History Museum of Berlin. Eight teeth were originally attributed to the dubious dinosaur genus Labrosaurus, and later to Ceratosaurus, both known from the North American Morrison Formation. Subsequent studies attributed two of these teeth to a spinosaurid dinosaur, and in 2012, Ostafrikasaurus crassiserratus was named by French paleontologist Eric Buffetaut, with one tooth as the holotype, and the other referred to the same species. The generic name comes from the German word for German East Africa, the former name of the colony in which the fossils were found, while the specific name comes from the Latin words for "thick" and "serrated", in reference to the form of the animal's teeth.

Under dispute

Ostafrikasaurus is a tooth taxon, erected by Buffetaut (2012) on a single isolated crown from Tendaguru with a second crown referred to it, and assigned to Spinosauridae on tooth morphology. Both the referral and the taxon's validity are rejected by later work, and the referral was doubted before the name existed: Rauhut (2011), examining the same tooth under its earlier assignment, found it closer to the Tendaguru material referred to Ceratosaurus than to baryonychine spinosaurids and reported little positive evidence for a spinosaurid referral, while allowing that one remained possible. Smyth and colleagues (2020) regard the species a nomen dubium for want of confirmable spinosaurid features, argue that spinosaurid teeth are diagnostic only at family or subfamily level and so cannot support tooth taxa at all, and note a plausible case for ceratosaurian affinities. Bandeira and colleagues (2024) call the occurrence dubious without ruling on the name. None of the sources cited for this taxon since the description defends it, so it is treated as a nomen dubium and placed at Theropoda incertae sedis rather than in Spinosauridae.

Species

Ostafrikasaurus crassiserratus Buffetaut, 2012 Nomen dubium

Type species

From Latin 'crassus' ('thick') and 'serratus' ('serrated'), referring to the large serrations on the carinae.

Holotype
MB.R.1084 , Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin
Material
An isolated tooth crown 46 mm in apicobasal height, moderately compressed labiolingually, with serrated mesial and distal carinae and an enamel ornament of apicobasal ridges and fine wrinkling.
Horizon
Upper Dinosaur Member, Tendaguru Formation, Tithonian, Late Jurassic , 149.2–143.1 million years ago
Locality
quarry Om, Lindi, Tanzania

References

  1. Buffetaut, E. (2012). An early spinosaurid dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of Tendaguru (Tanzania) and the evolution of the spinosaurid dentition. Oryctos 10: 1-8.

    Erects the genus and species on an isolated Tendaguru tooth crown and assigns it to Spinosauridae.

    buffetaut2012a
  2. Rauhut, O. W. M. (2011). Theropod dinosaurs from the Late Jurassic of Tendaguru (Tanzania). Special Papers in Palaeontology 86: 195-239.

    Examines the same tooth under its earlier assignment and reports little positive evidence for a spinosaurid referral, finding it closer to the Tendaguru Ceratosaurus material.

    rauhut2011a
  3. Smyth, R. S. H.; Ibrahim, N.; Martill, D. M. (2020). Sigilmassasaurus is Spinosaurus: a reappraisal of African spinosaurines. Cretaceous Research 114: 104520. Elsevier BV. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104520

    Regards the species a nomen dubium for want of confirmable spinosaurid features and notes a plausible case for ceratosaurian affinities.

    smyth2020a
  4. 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

    Calls the Tanzanian occurrence dubious without ruling on the name.

    bandeira2024a
  5. Mannion, P. D.; Upchurch, P.; Schwarz, D.; Wings, O. (2019). Taxonomic affinities of the putative titanosaurs from the Late Jurassic Tendaguru Formation of Tanzania: phylogenetic and biogeographic implications for eusauropod dinosaur evolution. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 185(3): 784-909. Oxford University Press (OUP). doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zly068

    Lists the species among the named Tendaguru theropods.

    mannion2019a