Chindesaurus
Name:
Chindesaurus
(Chinde lizard).
Phonetic: Chin-de-sore-us.
Named By: R. A. Long & P. A. Murry
- 1995.
Synonyms:Possibly Caseosaurus.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Theropoda, Herrerasauridae.
Species: C. bryansmalli
(type).
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Roughly estimated to be about 2 - 2.3
meters long.
Known locations: USA, Arizona - Chinle
Formation, New Mexico - Bull Canyon Formation, Chinle
Formation, Texas - Colorado City Formation.
Time period: Carnian to Norian of the Triassic.
Fossil representation: Partial remains of several
individuals.
The
holotype remains of Chindesaurus were first
discovered in 1985 and
at first thought to represent a kind of unknown sauropodomorph
dinosaur. It was later however that it was realised that Chindesaurus
actually represented a kind of primitive theropod dinosaur. Exactly
what kind of early theropod dinosaur has been a little bit harder to
ascertain, with some researchers choosing to class Chindesaurus
as a
basal saurischian, though most researchers today consider
Chindesaurus to be a relative of the more famous Herrerasaurus.
At
the time of writing a complete specimen of Chindesaurus
is unknown,
but several individuals have been identified allowing for slightly
more complete composite reconstructions to be built up. With an
approximate average size of just over two meters, Chindesaurus
would have been a small predator for the time that may have primarily
hunted smaller animals such as larger lizards to even smaller or
juvenile dinosaurs. Compared to other predators of the time,
Chindesaurus would have been among the faster and
more agile hunters,
traits that would also be its best defence as far larger predators
such as rauisuchians
like Saurosuchus
and Postosuchus
were both roaming
around North America at the same time as Chinlesaurus.
The
name Chindesaurus can be broken down to mean
‘Chinde lizard', a
reference to Chinde point, the location in close proximity to the
holotype remains. The word Chinde is also Navajo for ‘ghost'.
Another genus of early dinosaur named in 1998 (from fossils
originally attributed to Chindesaurus) and called
Caseosaurus has
been speculated to actually be synonymous with Chindesaurus.The
name
Chindesaurus can be broken down to mean ‘Chinde
lizard', a
reference to Chinde point, the location in close proximity to the
holotype remains. The word Chinde is also Navajo for ‘ghost'.
Another genus of early dinosaur named in 1998 (from fossils
originally attributed to Chindesaurus) and called
Caseosaurus has
been speculated to actually be synonymous with Chindesaurus.
Further reading
- Late Triassic (Carnian and Norian) tetrapods from the
southwestern United States. - New Mexico Museum of Natural History
and Science Bulletin 4:1-254. - R. A. Long & P.
A. Murry - 1995.
- A critical re-evaluation of the Late Triassic dinosaur taxa of
North America. - Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, 5(2):
209–243. - Nesbitt, Irmis & Parker - 2007.
- A late-surviving basal theropod dinosaur from the latest Triassic
of North America. - Proceedings of the Royal Society B 278
(1723): 3459–64. - C. Henrici - 2011.
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