Tarascosaurus
Name:
Tarascosaurus
(Tarasque lizard).
Phonetic: Tah-ras-coe-sore-us.
Named By: Jean Le Loeuff & Eric Buffetaut
- 1991.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Theropoda, Ceratosauria, Abelisauridae?
Species: T. salluvicus
(type).
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Preserved length of holotype femur 22
centimetres which accounts for a reconstructed length of 35
centimetres when complete. Scaling this to generic abelisaurid
theropod dinosaur proportions results in reconstructed estimate of
2.6-2.7 meters long for the holotype individual
Known locations: France - Fuvelian Beds. Spain.
Time period: Campanian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Fragmentary remains,
including upper femur and 2 caudal (tail) vertebrae. Further
remains from Spain have been attributed to the genus.
Despite
its appearance in dinosaur documentaries like Dinosaur
Planet,
not much is known about Tarascosaurus. The type
material is very
incomplete but has still seen this dinosaur tentatively placed within
the Abelisauridae.
Aside from Betasuchus,
Tarascosaurus is the only
representative of this group of theropod dinosaurs which were
previously considered to be present only in the southern continents and
absent from Europe. Indeed not all palaeontologists are convinced
about the placement of Tarascosaurus with the
abelisaurs. Most of the
renditions of Tarascosaurus are based upon much
more complete
abelisaurid genera like Aucasaurus.
Tarascosaurus
was named after Tarasque, a legendary dragon once said to live in
Provence. Since this time the names of other legendary European
dragons have been used to name genera of prehistoric creatures, one
example being Smok
that was named for a dragon in Polish mythology.
Further reading
- Tarascosaurus salluvicus nov. gen., nov. sp.,
dinosaure théropode du
Crétacé supérieur du sud de la France [Tarascosaurus salluvicus
nov.
gen., nov. sp., a theropod dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of
southern France]. - Géobios 25(5):585-594 - J. Le Loeuff & E.
Buffetaut - 1991.
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