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Struthiosaurus

Bunzel, 1870 STROOTH-ee-o-SAWR-us

From Latin struthio ('ostrich') and Greek sauros ('lizard'), meaning 'ostrich lizard'

83.6–72.2 million years ago Campanian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Struthiosaurus is a genus of nodosaurid dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous period (Santonian-Maastrichtian) of Austria, Romania, France, and possibly Hungary. It was a small dinosaur, measuring 2-3 m (6.6-9.8 ft) in length and weighing 300-400 kg (660-880 lb).

Diagnosis

  1. Single occipital condyle with temporal fossa resembling a Crocodile
  2. Convex occiput with gentle passage into skull roof, without forming an angle as in other reptiles
  3. Transverse ridge in the occipital region
  4. Absence of sutures between bones; globular condyle form
  5. Horizontality of skull base with ascending clivus
  6. Large brain-cavity; overall resemblance to bird skulls rather than typical Dinosaurian type

Species (3)

Struthiosaurus austriacus Bunzel, 1871

Type species

From Latin 'austriacus' meaning 'Austrian', referring to the provenance of the type specimen from Austria.

Holotype
PIUW 2349/6 , Paläontologisches Institut und Museum der Universität Wien
Material
Fragment of a reptilian skull.
Horizon
Grünbach Formation, Campanian, Late Cretaceous , 83.6–72.2 million years ago
Locality
Muthmannsdorf, Lower Austria, Austria

Synonyms

  • Rhodanosaurus junior subjective

    R. ludguensis is generally treated as a junior synonym of Struthiosaurus austriacus, though some authors instead consider it Nodosauridae incertae sedis.

Struthiosaurus transylvanicus Nopcsa, 1915

Holotype
BMNH R4966 , Natural History Museum
Material
Partial skull (braincase, frontal, parietal, postfrontal, quadrate), atlas, cervical and dorsal vertebrae, anterior caudal vertebrae, ribs, and a scapula, from associated remains found at Szentpéterfalva.
Horizon
Sânpetru Formation, Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous , 72.2–66.0 million years ago
Locality
Sânpetru, Hunedoara, Romania
Diagnosis
  1. Skeleton overall much more robust than in Struthiosaurus austriacus.
  2. Base of the skull markedly more robustly constructed than in S. austriacus.
  3. Anterior ribs T-shaped in cross-section but more moderately developed than in the Gosau (S. austriacus) material.
  4. Postcranial bone surfaces bearing a distinctive sculpture resembling intersecting fibers.

Struthiosaurus languedocensis Garcia & Pereda-Suberbiola, 2003

From Languedoc, the region of southern France where the holotype was found.

Holotype
UM2 OLV-D50 A-G CV , Université de Montpellier
Material
Complete synsacrum and pelvic girdle, plus the four caudal-most dorsal vertebrae.
Horizon
Campanian, Late Cretaceous , 83.6–72.2 million years ago
Locality
L'Olivet Quarry, Villeveyrac, Hérault, France No lithostratigraphic unit has been published for this species. Garcia and Pereda Suberbiola (2003) give the type horizon as lignite-bearing gray clays of the lower Campanian, using the Provencal continental stage name Fuvelian in scare quotes; that is a chronostratigraphic label borrowed from a basin some 200 km east.
Diagnosis
  1. Distal dorsal centra strongly compressed laterally and hourglass-shaped in ventral view, more so than in S. transylvanicus.
  2. Ischium directed immediately caudal from the acetabulum, with a robust shaft that does not taper distally and ends in a blunt knob (slender and tapering in S. austriacus).
  3. Synsacrum of ten co-ossified vertebrae (five dorsals, four sacrals, and one caudal).

Synonyms of the genus

Name Type Reason
Crataeomus junior subjective Reduced to a junior synonym of Struthiosaurus alongside Pleuropeltus and Hoplosaurus following taxonomic review.
Danubiosaurus junior subjective Treated as a junior synonym of Struthiosaurus, alongside Leipsanosaurus.
Hoplosaurus junior subjective Reduced to a junior synonym of Struthiosaurus alongside Pleuropeltus and Crataeomus following taxonomic review.
Leipsanosaurus junior subjective Now considered referable to Struthiosaurus, alongside Danubiosaurus.
Pleuropeltus junior subjective Reduced to a junior synonym of Struthiosaurus following taxonomic review that also consolidated Crataeomus and Hoplosaurus.

References

  1. Bunzel, E. (1870). Notice of a Fragment of a Reptilian Skull from the Upper Cretaceous of Grünbach. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 26(1-2): 394-394. Geological Society of London. doi:10.1144/gsl.jgs.1870.026.01-02.35

    Proposes the genus for a skull fragment from Grünbach, naming no species.

    bunzel1870a
  2. Bunzel, E. (1871). Die Reptilfauna der Gosau-Formation in der Neuen Welt bei Wiener-Neustadt [The reptile fauna of the Gosau Formation in the Neue Welt near Wiener Neustadt]. Abhandlungen der kaiserlich-königlichen geologischen Reichsanstalt 5: 1-18.

    In German. The memoir that names Struthiosaurus austriacus and Iguanodon suessii.

    bunzel1871a
  3. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Ornithischians. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the hip height estimate, and the appearance features.

    jones2026a
  4. Nopcsa, B. F. (1915). Die Dinosaurier der siebenbürgischen Landesteile Ungarns [The Dinosaurs of the Transylvanian Territories of Hungary]. Mitteilungen aus dem Jahrbuche der Königlich Ungarischen Geologischen Reichsanstalt 23: 1-26.

    Monograph on the Transylvanian dinosaurs; erects Struthiosaurus transylvanicus on BMNH R4966 from the Sânpetru Formation of the Hațeg Basin.

    nopcsa1915a
  5. Garcia, G.; Pereda-Suberbiola, X. (2003). A new species of Struthiosaurus (Dinosauria: Ankylosauria) from the Upper Cretaceous of France. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 23(1): 156-165. Informa UK Limited. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2003)23[156:ANSOSD]2.0.CO;2

    Erects Struthiosaurus languedocensis on synsacrum UM2 OLV-D50 from the Campanian of Villeveyrac, southern France.

    garcia2003a
  6. Weishampel, D. B.; Dodson, P.; Osmólska, H. (eds.) (2004). The Dinosauria, Second Edition. University of California Press, Berkeley.

    Lists Struthiosaurus languedocensis under an unnamed unit, an explicit abstention rather than an omission.

    weishampel2004a