Berberosaurus
Name:
Berberosaurus
(Berber lizard).
Phonetic: Ber-ber-o-sore-us.
Named By: Ronan Allain, Ronald Tykoski, Najat
Aquesbi, Nour-Eddine, Michel Monbaron, Dale Russell &
Phillipe Taquet - 2007.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Ceratosauria?
Species: B. liassicus (type).
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Unavailable.
Known locations: Morocco - Toundoute Group.
Time period: Pleinsbachian/Toarcian of the Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Partial post cranial skeleton
of a sub adult, including partial hind limb, hip and a cervical
(neck) vertebrae.
Berberosaurus
will catch the eye of anyone interested in theropod dinosaurs because
the genus may represent the oldest ceratosaur, though not everyone is
in agreement. The original description of Berberosaurus
came to the
conclusion that Berberosaurus was an abelisauroid
that was more advanced
than genera such as Elaphrosaurus
and Spinostropheus,
though more
primitive than Xenotarsosaurus
and other abelisaurs. This was
challenged one year later when a study by Carrano and Sampson found
Berberosaurus to actually be basal ceratosaur
instead. Then again one
year after this in 2009, a study by Xu et al. found Berberosaurus
to be a dilophosaurid
and therefore related to genera such as
Cryolophosaurus,
Dilophosaurus
and Dracovenator.
Regardless
of the eventual phylogenetic placement of the genus, Berberosaurus
seems to have been a medium sized theropod dinosaur, and was likely a
predator of other dinosaurs of the time. These may include later
prosauropods
as well as early sauropods,
with a particular genus
called Tazoudasaurus
being known from the same location as
Berberosaurus. Other prey animals could include
early ornithiscians
as well as smaller theropods.
The
name Berberosaurus means ‘berber lizard’ and is
a reference to the Berber
people of Morocco. The species name B. liassicus
is a reference to
the Lias epoch.
Further reading
- A basal abelisauroid from the late Early Jurassic of the High Atlas
Mountains, Morocco, and the radiation of ceratosaurs - Ronan
Allain, Ronald Tykoski, Najat Aquesbi, Nour-Eddine, Michel
Monbaron, Dale Russell & Phillipe Taquet - 2007.
- The phylogeny of Ceratosauria (Dinosauria: Theropoda).
Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 6 - Carrano &
Sampson - 2008.
- A Jurassic ceratosaur from China helps clarify avian digital
homologies (supplementary information) - X. Xu, J. M.
Clark, J. Mo, J. Choiniere, C. A. Forster, G. M.
Erickson, D. W. E. Hone, C. Sullivan, D. A. Eberth,
S. Nesbitt, Q. Zhao, R. Hernandez, C. -K. Jia, F.
-L. Han & Y. Guo - 2009.
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