Sauro Words: Dinosaurs “Bactrosaurus” to “Ctenosaurus”
Groups "B-C"
A Greek element that is used in various forms to create hundreds of words that mean “lizard”: sauro-, saur-, -saurus, -saurid, -saur, -sauria, -saurian. Some authorities use sauro-, -saurus, et al. as a reference to a “serpent” or a “reptile”; but it is used especially with reference to “dinosaurs”.
The artist’s conceptions of dinosaur actions, and reactions,
may be just as legitimate as those of scientists in many cases.
Bactrosaurus:
“club (spined) lizard” from Late Cretaceous Mongolia. Its name is said to come from Greek baktron, “rod, staff, club”. The name Bactrosaurus is often misinterpreted as “Bactrian lizard”; however, ancient Bactria was in southwest Asia, far from Chinese Inner Mongolia where the original fossil was found. Named by U. S. paleontologist Charles Whitney Gilmore in 1933.
Bahariasaurus:
“Baharije (oasis) lizard” from Late Cretaceous period and found in northern Egypt and Algeria. It was named for the Baharija Formation, Egypt, where the fossil was found. Named by German paleontologist Ernst Stromer von Reichenbach in 1934.
Barapasaurids:
A possible name for the family to which Barapasaurus dinosaurs belonged.
Barapasaurus:
A “big-legged lizard” from Early Jurassic central India’s odavari Valley. The name is composed of Indian bara, “big” plus pa, “leg”. Named by Sohan L. Jain, T. S. Kutty, Tapan Roy-Chowdhury and Indian paleontologist Sankar Chatterjee in 1975.
Barosaurus:
A “heavy lizard” from Late Jurassic South Dakota and Wyoming (USA), and Tanzania. Named by paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh (1831-1899) in 1890.
Beipiaosaurus:
A “Beipiao lizard” from Early or Middle Cretaceous China. It was named to indicate a dinosaur found near the city of Beipiao, in the Yixian Formation in Liaoning Province, northeastern China. Named by Xu Xing, Tang Zhilu, and Wang Xiaolin in 1998 or 1999.
Bellusaurus:
A “beautiful (or fine) lizard” from Middle Jurassic China. Its name alludes to the “fine” quality of the specimens of this small sauropod. It was found in Sichuan Province, China. Named by Chinese paleontologist Zhiming Dong in 1988.
Bihariosaurus:
A “Biharium (or Bihor) lizard” from Late Jurassic Romania. It was named for the Bihor county region of the Carpathean Mountains of Romania where the fossils were found. Biharium is the Latin name for modern Bihor. Named by paleontologist Florian Marinescu in 1989.
Bishanopliosaurus:
A “Wall Mountain pliosaur (more lizard)” from Early Jurassic China. It was named from Chinese Bishan, “wall mountain” in Sichuan Province, China. Named by Chinese paleontologist Zhiming Dong in 1980.
Blikanasaurus:
“Blikana lizard” from Late Triassic Blikana, mountain in South Africa’s Cape Province. Named by British paleontologist Peter M. Galton and Jacques van Heerden in 1985.
Brachiosaurids:
These “arm lizards” probably evolved from creatures like Cetiosaurus, but they had a relatively longer neck, higher shoulders, and longer “arms”.
Brachiosaurus:
Means “arm lizard” from Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous Colorado, USA; Algeria; and Tanzania (where a complete skeleton was found). Named by Elmer S. Riggs (1859-1963) in 1903.
Brachylophosaurus:
A “short-ridge (or short-crested) lizard” from Late Cretaceous Montana, USA and Alberta, Canada. Named by U. S. fossil hunter Charles Mortram Sternberg (1885-1981) in 1953.
Brachypodosaurus:
A “short-footed (or short-legged) lizard” from Late Cretaceous central India. It is said to be named “short-legged lizard” because of the short length of the humerus. Named by Dhirendra Kishore Chakravarti in 1934.
Brancasaurus:
A “Branca’s lizard” from Early Cretaceous Europe. Named in honor of Wilhelm von Branca (1844-1928), noted German paleontologist. It was discovered in Gronau, Westphalia, in west-central Germany. Named by Theodor Hubert Wegner in 1914.
Branchiosaurus:
A “gill lizard” was a very early amphibian from early Carboniferous of the early Permian period (roughly 300 million years ago). It was not a dinosaur.
Brimosaurus:
A “strong lizard” from Late Cretaceous North America. Named by Joseph Leidy in 1854.
Brontosaurus, Brontosaur:
This “thunder lizard” nomenclature is no longer recognized by scientists because they found that it described an animal that was previously given another name which is Apatosaurus.
Bruhathkayosaurus:
A “heavy-bodied lizard” from Late Cretaceous India. Its name comes from Sanskrit bruhathkaya, “heavy-bodied”. Named by P. Yadagiri and K. Ayyasami in 1989.
Bugenasaura:
A “large-cheek lizard” from Late Cretaceous South Dakota, North America. Its name comes from Greek, bou- through Latin, bu-, “huge” and Latin gena, “cheek”. The fossil was originally attributed to the Thescelosaurus. Named by British paleontologist Peter M. Galton in 1995.
Bullatosauria:
The name means, “inflated lizards” from Latin bullatus, “inflated” or bulla, “hollow swelling”. It is believed to have existed in the Late Cretaceous period.
Calamosaurus:
This nomenclature (“near lizard”) is no longer recognized by scientists because they found that it described an animal that was previously given another name which is Aristosuchus; meaning, “best crocodile” from the Early Cretaceous Isle of Wight, England. Named by British paleontologist Richard Lydekker in 1891.
Callawayasaurus:
This “Callaway’s lizard” is from Early Cretaceous and was named in honor of Jack M. Callaway (1930-1997), about whom it was said that in his brief career as a vertebrate paleontologist, he did much to improve understanding of marine reptiles. The fossil was found in the Paja Formation (Upper Aptian), near Villa de Leiva, Provincia Boyaca, Colombia. It was named by Kenneth Carpenter (Denver Museum of Natural History) in 1999.
Callovosaurus:
“Callovian lizard” from Middle Jurassic England. Named in 1980 for the Callovian rock bed from which its thigh bone came. Its name comes from the Latin (Callovium) for Chalivoy-Milon, France, which is the source of the term “Callovian-period”. Named by Canadian paleontologist Philip J. Currie in 1980.
Camarasaurids:
Hollow chambers in the backbone contributed to the naming of this family as “chambered lizards.” These sauropods lived in western North America and East Asia.
Camarasaurus:
A “chambered lizard” from Late Jurassic Colorado, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming (USA). Formerly known as Amphicoelias and Uintasaurus. Named by Edward Drinker Cope (1840-1897) in 1877.
Camposaurus:
Called “Camp’s lizard” from Late Triassic Bluewater Creek Formation of the Chinle Group, Late Carnian of Arizona. It was named for Charles Lewis Camp (1893-1975), an American vertebrate paleontologist, who excavated the Placerias quarry. Named by Adrian Paul Hunt, Frederic Augustus Lucas (1852-1929), Andrew Heckert, Robert M. Sullivan, and Martin Lockley (University of Colorado-Denver geologist) in 1998.
Camptosaurids:
Bigger and less agile than their ancestors, the tiny, bird-hipped bipeds like Hypsilophodon.
Camptosaurus:
A “bent” or “flexible lizard” from Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous England and western North America (Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming). This creature was formerly called Cumnoria and Symphyrosaurus. Named by Othniel Charles Marsh (1831-1899) in 1885.
Carcharodontosaurus:
“Carcharodon (or shark-toothed) lizard” from Late Cretaceous period and found in what is now known as the Sahara Desert (southeastern Morocco in 1995). This lizard was named for the Greek (karkharodon, “jagged toothed”) Carcharodon, the great white shark. Named by German paleontologist Ernst Stromer von Reichenbach in 1931.
Carnosaurs:
A “flesh lizard” included all the larger theropods. As time passed, larger kinds of carnosaur seemed to have replaced the earlier types.
Carnosaurus:
A “flesh (or meat-eating) lizard” Early Cretaceous southern Argentina, included all the larger theropods. As time passed, larger kinds of carnosaur seemed to have replaced the earlier types.
Caseosaurus:
Named “Case’s lizard” from Late Triassic Crosby County, Texas. Named in honor of Ermine Cowles Case (1871-1953), an American vertebrate paleontologist. Named by Adrian Paul Hunt, Frederic Augustus Lucas (1852-1929), Andrew Heckert, Robert M. Sullivan, and Martin Lockley (University of Colorado-Denver geologist) in 1998.
Cathetosaurus:
Named “??? lizard” from Upper Jurassic of the Colorado Plateau. Named by U. S. paleontologist James A. Jensen in 1988.
Centrosaurus, Centrosaur:
A “sharp-point (spur) lizard” from Late Cretaceous Alberta, Canada. Named by Canadian paleontologist Lawrence M. Lambe in 1904.
Ceraunosaurus:
A “thunderbolt lizard” found in the Lake Waco Formation (Cenomanian) of Texas. Named by Jules Thurmond in 1968.
Ceratosaurids:
A family of big flesh-eating dinosaurs with a horn above the nose; therefore, “horn lizard”.
Ceratosaurus:
A “horned lizard” from Late Jurassic North America (Colorado and Utah) and East Africa (Tanzania). Named by Othniel Charles Marsh (1831-1899) in 1884.
Ceresiosaurus:
A “nothosaur”, a reptile with flipper-like limbs that lived both on land and in the water. It lived during the Middle Triassic period. Fossils have been found in Europe. It was not a dinosaur.
Cetiosaurids:
These “whale lizards” got their name from the discovery in central England in 1809 of great bones thought to have belonged to a huge aquatic beast. Believed to have existed from the Jurassic into the Cretaceous periods.
Cetiosauriscus:
A “whale-like lizard” from Middle to Late Jurassic southern England and in Switzerland. Named by German paleontologist Friedrich von Huene in 1927.
Cetiosaurus:
A “whale (or sea monster) lizard” from Middle to Late Jurassic western Europe (England) and North Africa (Morocco). Named by British anatomist Sir Richard Owen in 1841.
Champsosaur:
Early lizard-like reptiles that lived in water. (Subclass Diapsida, Order Choristodera).
Champsosaurus:
A “long-jawed early reptile”, a Champsosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous period through the Eocene period. It was not a dinosaur.
Chaoyoungosaurus:
Meaning “Chaoyang lizard” from Middle Jurassic Liaoning Province, China. Named by Zijin Zhao in 1983.
Chasmatosaurus:
Formerly known as Proterosuchus, is the earliest-known Proteroschian, a very primitive thecodont that lived during the Early Triassic period. Considered an ancestor of the dinosaurs. Fossils have been found in China and South Africa.
Chasmosaurus:
Meaning “wide-opening (cleft, space) lizard” from Late Cretaceous Alberta, Canada; and New Mexico. Named in 1914, this creature was previously known as Protosaurus. Named by Canadian fossil hunter Lawrence M. Lambe in 1914.
Cheneosaurus:
This 1917 nomenclature (“goose-like lizard”) is no longer recognized by scientists because they found that it described a fossil that was previously given another name which is Hypacrosaurus. Named by Lawrence M. Lambe in 1917.
Chialingosaurus:
“Chia-ling lizard” from Late Jurassic Chia-ling River (Jialingjiang: Chinese, jialing, “fine”; ling, “hill”), Sichuan Province, China. Named by Chinese paleontologist Yang Zhong-jian (also known as: Chung Chien Young) in 1959.
Chiayüsaurus: “Chia-yü lizard” from Late Cretaceous Chia-yü-kuan in Alashon, Inner Mongolia, China. Named by Anders Birger Bohlin in 1953.
Chienkosaurus:
Means “Chien-ko lizard” from China. Named by Chinese paleontologist Yang Zhong-jian (also known as: Chung Chien Young) in 1942.
Chilantaisaurus:
“Ch’i-lan-t’ai lizard” from Late (or Early) Cretaceous period and found in Lake Jilantai (or Chilantai), northwest China (Inner Mongolia), Kwangtung in the south, and Siberia, Russia. Named by Hu Chengzi (Hu Chengchih) in 1958.
Chilingosaurus:
A “Chialing lizard”, a river in China. It lived during the Middle Jurassic period. It was named by paleontologist Hu Chengzi (Hu Chengchih) in 1964.
Chindesaurus:
A “Chinde lizard” from Late Triassic Chinde Point in the Upper Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona and in New Mexico, USA. The name comes (1984) from Chinde (Navaho chii(n)dii, “ghost, evil spirit”). Named by Australian dinosaur expert John Long and Philip A. Murry in 1985.
Chingkankousaurus:
A “Ch’ing-kang-kou lizard” from Late Cretaceous period Chingkankou (Jingankou) village, Shandong Province, China. Named by Chinese paleontologist Yang Zhong-jian (also known as: Chung Chien Young) in 1958.
Chinshakiangosaurus:
A “Kinsha-kiang lizard” from Late Triassic or Early Jurassic Yunnan in southern China. Kinsha-kiang is the Chinese name for the upper Yangtze River. Named by Zijin Zhao in 1986.
Chlamydosaurus:
Meaning “caped lizard” is a rare, modern-day frilled lizard (not a dinosaur) that is native to New Guinea and North Australia. These climbing lizards live in trees in humid forests and eat cicadas, ants, spiders and smaller lizards. It can run quadrupedally and bipedally, with the front legs off the ground. Named by S. W. Gray in 1825.
Chondrosteosaurus:
A “bony-cartilage lizard (cartilage-boned)” from Early Cretaceous Isle of Wight (UK). This creature was formerly known as Eucamerotus. Named by British anatomist Sir Richard Owen (1804-1892) in 1876.
Chubutisaurus:
“Chubut lizard” from Late Cretaceous Chubut Province, southern Argentina. Named by Guillermo del Corro in 1974.
Chungkingosaurus:
A “Chungking lizard” from Late Jurassic Chungking (Chongqing) in Sichuan Province, China. Named by Chinese paleontologists Zhiming Dong, Shiwu Zhou, and Yihong Zhang in 1983.
Cimoliasaurus:
A “Cretaceous lizard” from the Late Cretaceous age of the Green Sand deposits in Burlington County, New Jersey. First named by Joseph Leidy in 1851, its genus was redefined in 1889 by British paleontologist Richard Lydekker who assigned many species of Late Jurassic and Cretaceous plesiosaurs from around the world to Cimoliasaurus (which he respelled Cimoliosaurus).
Claosaurus:
A “branched-tooth (or broken) lizard” from Late Cretaceous southern Argentina. The name, klao, “break” is probably named for the broken-up way the type specimen was collected; that is, pieces were recovered at different times years apart. Another source [http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/dinosaurs/glossary/indexc.shtml] says that its “headless fossilized skeleton was found in Kansas, USA.” Named by Othniel Charles Marsh (1831-1899) in 1890.
Clasmodosaurus:
A “fragment-tooth lizard” from Late Cretaceous Kansas. Named by Florentin Ameghino in 1898.
Clepsysaurus:
A “clepsydra lizard” from Late Triassic North America. The name comes from Greek clepsydra, “waterclock”. Named by Isaac Lea in 1851.
Coelosaurus:
This nomenclature (“hollow [boned] lizard”) is no longer recognized by scientists because they found that it described an animal that was previously given another name which is Struthiomimus meaning, “ostrich mimic” from Late Cretaceous southern Alberta, Canada and New Jersey, USA. Named by Joseph Leidy in 1865.
Coelurosauria:
These are “hollow-tailed lizards” from Jurassic through Cretaceous periods and are closely related to birds (and includes the birds).
Colonosaurus:
A “hill lizard” from Cretaceous western North America. Named by Othniel Charles Marsh (1831-1899) in 187
2. This fossil was later correctly attributed the dentary of Ichthyornis.
Coloradisaurus:
“Los Colorados lizard” (named from the Late Triassic Los Colorados Formation of La Rioja, Argentina). Named in 1983 by David Lambert, a freelance writer of popular-level books on palaeontology.
In a message from David Lambert on February 6, 2000; he wrote, “I named it in The Collins Guide to Dinosaurs (UK), published as The Field Guide to Dinosaursin the USA, after Dr. José Bonaparte in Argentina had written answering my inquiry about Argentinian dinosaur discoveries. He had formally published it under the name Coloradia, but told me the name was now Coloradisaurus as he had found that another animal already bore the name Coloradia. I published the new name assuming he had done so already, but it seems he had not. As I named only the genus, not the species, I think I don’t count for ICZN purposes, though my name turns up for this dinosaur in various references.”
Prior to the previous message, on February 4, 2000; Mr. Lambert wrote, “This beast embarrasses me. When I was compiling a dinosaur book Bonaparte told me its original name Coloradia turned out to be preoccupied (by a beetle) so it is now Coloradisaurus. It appears my book was the first to say this in print. Any other dinosaurs my name is attached to in George Olshevsky’s listings, are informal names of (I believe still) undescribed Japanese dinosaurs.”
Colymbosaurus:
A “diving lizard” from Late Jurassic Europe. It was named to indicate a swimming reptile and was found in Kimmeridge Clay in Oxfordshire, England. Named by Harry Govier Seeley in 1874.
Compsosaurus:
An “adorned lizard” from Late Triassic North America. Named by Joseph Leidy in 1856.
Cosesaurus:
“Cose lizard” from Middle Triassic Spain and named for the Cose people of Spain. Named by Paul Ellenberger and Spanish paleontologist J. F. de Villalta in 1974.
Cotylosaur:
“Stem lizards” that evolved from amphibians during the Early Carboniferous period. and went extinct at the end of the Triassic period.
Cotylosauria:
An order of primitive reptiles descended from certain labyrinthodont amphibians. The cotylosaurs were probably the stem reptiles, from which other reptilian orders evolved.
Corythosaurus:
A “helmet lizard” from Late Cretaceous Alberta, Canada. It had a hollow, helmet-shaped crest on top of its long, narrow head. The name comes from Greek koryth, korys,“helmet, crown of the head”. Named by paleontologist Barnum Brown (1873-1963) in 1914.
Craterosaurus:
A “bowl (cup or crater) lizard” from Early Cretaceous southern England. Named by British paleontologist Harry Govier Seeley (1839-1909) in 1874.
Creosaurus:
This nomenclature (“flesh lizard”) is no longer recognized by scientists because they found that it described an animal that was previously given another name which is Allosaurus. Named by Othniel Charles Marsh (1831-1899) in 1878.
Cristatusaurus:
A “crested lizard” from Early Cretaceous Africa. Named by Philippe Taquet and Canadian paleontologist Dr. Dale Alan Russell in 1998.
Cryolophosaurus:
A “frozen-crested lizard” from Early Jurassic. The name is a reference to both the freezing conditions under which the fossil remains of a large theropod were extracted on Mount Kirkpatrick in the Queen Alexandra Range, west central Antarctica, and to the unusual ridged, transverse bony crest on the animal’s forehead. It was originally compared to Elvis Presley’s 1950’s pompadour hair-do. Named by U. S. paleontologists William R. Hammer and Hickerson in 1994.
Cryptosaurus:
This nomenclature (“hidden lizard”) is no longer recognized by scientists because they found that it described an animal that was previously given another name which is Cryptodraco; meaning “hidden dragon” from Late Jurassic Cambridgeshire, England. Named by Harry Govier Seeley in 1869.
Ctenosauriscus:
A “comb lizard” from Late Triassic Europe. Named by Oskar Kuhn in 1964.
Ctenosaurus:
A “comb lizard” from Late Triassic Europe. Its name results from the tall, erect spines along its back; originally misclassified as a Triassic fin-backed Pelycosaur. Named by Oskar Kuhn in 1964 (or Friedrich von Huene in 1914?).