Fulgurotherium
| Fulgurotherium Temporal range: Early Cretaceous | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Femur end | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Sauropsida |
| Superorder: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | Ornithischia |
| Suborder: | Cerapoda |
| Infraorder: | Ornithopoda |
| Family: | ?Hypsilophodontidae |
| Genus: | Fulgurotherium |
| Species: | F. australe |
| Binomial name | |
| Fulgurotherium australe von Huene, 1932 | |
Fulgurotherium (meaning "Lightning Beast") is the name given to a genus of dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous (Albian). It lived in what is now Australia.
The type species, Fulgurotherium australe, was named by Friedrich von Huene in 1932.[1] The genus name is derived from Latin fulgur, "lightning", and Greek therion, "beast", a reference to the Lightning Ridge site in New South Wales. The specific name means "southern" in Latin. The holotype is BMNH R.3719, the opalised lower end of a femur, indicating a total body length of 1 to 1.5 metres.
Von Huene thought it was a theropod, a member of the Ornithomimidae.[2] It has later been described as a hypsilophodont, a primitive ornithopod.[3] However, this was based on a contentious reference of bones found in the Dinosaur Cave, leading to a possible confusion between multiple species of Euornithopoda. Most researchers today consider it a nomen dubium.
Its name is an unusual example of a name in -therium used for an animal which is not a mammal.
Notes
- ↑ F. v. Huene, 1932, "Die fossile Reptil-Ordnung Saurischia, ihre Entwicklung und Geschichte", Monographien zur Geologie und Palaeontologie, serie 1 4(1-2): 1-361
- ↑ F. v. Huene, 1944, "Aussichtsreiche Fundgegenden für künftige Sauriergrabungen", Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie Monatshefte, Abteilung B 88: 441-451
- ↑ R. E. Molnar and P. M. Galton, 1986, "Hypsilophodontid dinosaurs from Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia", Géobios 19(2): 231-239