Chebsaurus
Name:
Chebsaurus
(young man lizard).
Phonetic: Cheb-sor-us.
Named By: F. Mahammed, E. Läng, L. Mami,
L. Mekahli, M. Benhamou, B. Bouterfa, A. Kacemi, S.
A. Chérief, H. Chaouati & P. Taquet - 2005.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Sauropoda.
Species: C. algeriensis
(type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Roughly estimated to be about 8-9 meters
long for the holotype, but this is from a possible juvenile.
Known locations: Algeria.
Time period: Mid Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Skull and partial post
cranial remains, possibly from up to 2 juveniles.
Chebsaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that is known to have lived in what is now Algeria during the Jurassic. The genus name for Chebsaurus means ‘young man lizard’, from the Arabic word ‘cheb’, combined with the Ancient Greek for lizard. This is because the holotype specimen of this dinosaur is from a juvenile, but we now also known that the total collection of known fossils of Chebsaurus comes from at least two juveniles. By extension, even though the holotype individual is estimated to have been between eight and nine metes long at the time of death, fully grown adults would have certainly been larger. Unfortunately, until fossil remains of adult Chebsaurus are found it will be impossible to say just how big Chebsaurus could grow. Nevertheless, Chebsaurus now also has the nickname, ‘the Giant of Ksour’, after the Ksour Mountain range which is in northern Algeria.
Further reading
- The 'Giant of Ksour', a Middle Jurassic sauropod dinosaur
from Algeria. Comptes Rendus Palevol (4)707-714. - F.
Mahammed, E. Läng, L. Mami, L. Mekahli, M. Benhamou,
B. Bouterfa, A. Kacemi, S. A. Chérief, H. Chaouati
& P. Taquet - 2005.
- New anatomical data and phylogenetic relationships of Chebsaurus
algeriensis (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Middle
Jurassic of
Algeria. - Historical Biology: An International Journal of
Paleobiology vol 22, Issue 1-3 pp 142-164 [Proceedings of
the First International Congress on North African Vertebrate
Palaeontology – Morocco 2009] - Emilie Läng & Farida
Mahammed - 2010.
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