Cruxicheiros
Name:
Cruxicheiros
(Cross hand).
Phonetic: Cruks-e-ky-ross.
Named By: R. B. J. Benson & J. D.
Radley - 2010.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Theropoda, Tetanurae.
Species: C. newmanorum
(type).
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Uncertain due to lack of remains, but
possibly as large as 10 meters long.
Known locations: England
Time period: Bathonian of the Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Very partial post cranial
remains including parts of the hands, partial pelvis, partial right
femur and partial vertebrae.
Fossils
of Cruxicheiros were first discovered in 1960
when they were
discovered in the Cross Hand Quarry of Warwickshire, which as you
have no doubt already realised is the inspiration for the name
Cruxicheiros which means ‘Cross Hand’. At the
time the fossils
were just lumped in with Megalosaurus,
which has for a long time
been used as a wastebasket for any large theropod dinosaur remains
discovered in England. When the fossils were finally given a proper
and in depth examination, the result was that they were found to be
different to known similar remains of Megalosaurus,
and so they were
given their own genus in 2010.
Unfortunately
we still don’t know too much about Cruxicheiros,
what parts are known
are very incomplete, and so leading to three theories as to what kind
of theropod Cruxicheiros was. First is that Cruxicheiros
was a
megalosauroid and relative to Megalosaurus,
which would fit given
what we currently know about other theropods around Western Europe
during the same time period. The second is that Cruxicheiros
might
represent a primitive allosauroid, and possible relative to
Allosaurus.
Third is that Cruxicheiros is none of the above
and the
genus represents a hitherto unknown theropod.
Further reading
- A new large-bodied theropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of
Warwickshire, United Kingdom. - Acta Palaeontologica Polonica
55(1):35-42. - R. B. J. Benson & J. D.
Radley - 2010.
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