Stokesosaurus

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Stokesosaurus
Fossil range: Late Jurassic
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Sauropsida
Superorder: Dinosauria
Order: Saurischia
Suborder: Theropoda
Superfamily: Tyrannosauroidea
Genus: Stokesosaurus
Madsen, 1974
Species
  • S. clevelandi Madsen, 1974 (type)

Stokesosaurus ("Stokes' lizard") is a genus of small early tyrannosaur from the Late Jurassic period of Utah. It was named after Utah geologist William Lee Stokes.[1]

The holotype (UUVP 2938) consists of a hip bone, originally thought to belong to the possible early tyrannosaur Iliosuchus,[2] as well as several vertebrae and a partial braincase.[3] Another ilium referred to this dinosaur[4] is lost but may actually belong to the related Aviatyrannis, and a premaxilla thought to belong to Iliosuchus[1] is actually from Tanycolagreus.

Stokesosaurus and Tanycolagreus are about the same size, and it is possible that the latter is a junior synonym of the former. However, the ilium (the best known element of Stokesosaurus) of Tanycolagreus has never been recovered, making direct comparison difficult.[5]

Despite the fact that it is known from fragmentary and incomplete remains, Stokesosaurus was featured in the video game Zoo Tycoon 2: Extinct Animals.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Madsen (1974). "A new theropod dinosaur from the Upper Jurassic of Utah". Journal of Paleontology 48: 27–31. 
  2. ^ Galton (1976). "Iliosuchus, a Jurassic dinosaur from Oxfordshire and Utah". Paleontology 19: 587–589. 
  3. ^ Chure and Madsen (1998). "An unusual braincase (?Stokesosaurus clevelandi) from the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry, Utah (Morrison Formation; Late Jurassic)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 18 (1): 115–125. 
  4. ^ Foster and Chure (2000). "An ilium of a juvenile Stokesosaurus (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from the Morrison Formation (Upper Jurassic: Kimmeridgian), Meade County, South Dakota". Brigham Young University Geology Studies 45: 5–10. 
  5. ^ Foster, J. (2007). Jurassic West: The Dinosaurs of the Morrison Formation and Their World. Indiana University Press. 389pp.
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