Brachypodosaurus

Taxobox|
name = "Brachypodosaurus"|
fossil_range = Late Cretaceous


image_width = 200px
image_caption =
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
superordo = Dinosauria
ordo = Ornithischia
subordo = Thyreophora
infraordo = Ankylosauria
genus = "Brachypodosaurus"
genus_authority = Chakravarti, 1934
species = "B. gravis"
species_authority = Chakravarti, 1934
binomial = "Brachypodosaurus gravis"

"Brachypodosaurus" (meaning "short-footed lizard") was a genus of thyreophoran dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Lameta formation (Maastrichtian) in India. The only remains discovered so far for this animal has been a fossil humerus, named "Brachypodosaurus gravis" by Chakravati in 1934, and originally described as a stegosaur. [Chakravarti, D. K., 1934, "On a stegosaurian humerus from the Lameta beds of Jubbulpore", Q.J. MINERAL. METALLURG. SOC. INDIA, 30; 75-79]

This ornithischian could have been either an ankylosaur (an armoured dinosaur) or a stegosaur (a plated dinosaur). The name "Brachypodosaurus" is, however, considered as a "nomen dubium" as so few remains of the animal have been found. [Maryanska T., 1977. "Ankylosauridae (Dinosauria) from Mongolia", Palaeontologia Polonica 37:85-151] Wilson et al., cast further doubts on the stegosaurian affinity of the genus in 2003. [Wilson, J. A., P. C. Sereno, S. Srivastava, D. K. Bhatt, A. Khosla, and A. Sahni. 2003. "A new abelisaurid (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from the Lameta Formation (Cretaceous, Maastrichtian) of India", Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology of the University of Michigan, 31:1–42] The other Late Cretaceous genus from India originally described as a stegosaur, "Dravidosaurus", is also a "nomen dubium".

References