PBDB Taxon

Basic info	Taxonomic history	Classification	Included Taxa
Morphology	Ecology and taphonomy	External Literature Search	Age range and collections

Elaphrosaurus

Osteichthyes - Noasauridae

Taxonomy

Elaphrosaurus was named by Janensch (1920).

It was assigned to Ornithomiminae by Nopcsa (1928); to Coelurosauria by Janensch (1920), Huene (1923), Janensch (1925), Kuhn (1939); to Compsognathidae by Tatarinov (1964); to Coeluridae by Stromer (1934), Romer (1956), Lapparent (1960), Romer (1966), Steel (1970), Swinton (1970), Raath (1977), Galton (1977), Molnar (1980); to Theropoda by Welles (1984); to Coelophysinae by Paul (1988); to Ornithomimidae by Galton (1982), Russell (1984), Gauthier (1986), Carroll (1988), Smith and Galton (1990), Molnar (1992); to Coelophysidae by Novas (1992); to Ceratosauroidea by Sereno (1997), Sereno (1998), Sampson et al. (1998), Sereno (1999); to Neoceratosauria by Holtz (1998), Holtz (2000), Carrano et al. (2002), Tykoski and Rowe (2004), Carrano and Sampson (2004); to Ceratosauria by Holtz (1995), Sereno et al. (2004); to Theropoda by Chure et al. (2006); to Ornithomimosauria by Taquet (2010); to Ceratosauria by Carrano and Sampson (2008), Carrano et al. (2012), Tortosa et al. (2014), Gianechini et al. (2015); to Abelisauroidea by Holtz (1994), Rowe et al. (1997), Rauhut (2003), Ezcurra et al. (2010), Sereno (2017); and to Elaphrosaurinae by Rauhut and Carrano (2016), Delcourt (2018).

Species

E. bambergi

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1920	Elaphrosaurus Janensch p. 225 figs. 1-5
1923	Elaphrosaurus Huene p. 456 fig. 3
1925	Elaphrosaurus Janensch p. 7
1928	Elaphrosaurus Nopcsa p. 183
1934	Elaphrosaurus Stromer p. 80
1939	Elaphrosaurus Kuhn p. 40
1956	Elaphrosaurus Romer p. 612
1960	Elaphrosaurus Lapparent p. 30
1964	Elaphrosaurus Tatarinov p. 533
1966	Elaphrosaurus Romer p. 369
1970	Elaphrosaurus Steel p. 16
1970	Elaphrosaurus Swinton p. 128
1977	Elaphrosaurus Galton p. 230
1977	Elaphrosaurus Raath p. 208
1980	Elaphrosaurus Molnar p. 137
1982	Elaphrosaurus Galton p. 273
1984	Elaphrosaurus Russell p. 22
1984	Elaphrosaurus Welles p. 177
1986	Elaphrosaurus Gauthier p. 10
1988	Elaphrosaurus Carroll
1988	Elaphrosaurus Paul p. 265
1990	Elaphrosaurus Smith and Galton p. 264
1992	Elaphrosaurus Molnar p. 266
1992	Elaphrosaurus Novas p. 141
1994	Elaphrosaurus Holtz
1995	Elaphrosaurus Holtz, Jr. p. 35A
1997	Elaphrosaurus Rowe et al. p. 109
1997	Elaphrosaurus Sereno p. 455
1998	Elaphrosaurus Holtz, Jr. p. 39
1998	Elaphrosaurus Sampson et al. p. 1050 fig. 3
1998	Elaphrosaurus Sereno p. 73 fig. 8
1999	Elaphrosaurus Sereno p. 2138 fig. 2
2000	Elaphrosaurus Holtz, Jr. p. 16 fig. 5
2002	Elaphrosaurus Carrano et al.
2003	Elaphrosaurus Rauhut p. 142
2004	Elaphrosaurus Carrano and Sampson p. 552
2004	Elaphrosaurus Sereno et al. p. 1329 fig. 4
2004	Elaphrosaurus Tykoski and Rowe p. 48
2006	Elaphrosaurus Chure et al. p. 236
2008	Elaphrosaurus Carrano and Sampson pp. 199-200 fig. 4
2010	Elaphrosaurus Ezcurra et al. p. 14 fig. 8
2010	Elaphrosaurus Taquet p. 92
2012	Elaphrosaurus Carrano et al. p. 248 fig. 7
2014	Elaphrosaurus Tortosa et al. p. 70
2015	Elaphrosaurus Gianechini et al.
2016	Elaphrosaurus Rauhut and Carrano pp. 4, 50
2017	Elaphrosaurus Sereno p. 577
2018	Elaphrosaurus Delcourt p. 3

Is something missing? Join the Paleobiology Database and enter the data

Rank	Name	Author
kingdom	Animalia	()
—	Bilateria
—	Eubilateria	Ax 1987
—	Deuterostomia
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1874
subphylum	Vertebrata
superclass	Gnathostomata
class	Osteichthyes
subclass	Sarcopterygii	()
subclass	Dipnotetrapodomorpha	(Nelson 2006)
subclass	Tetrapodomorpha	()
—	Tetrapoda
—	Reptiliomorpha
—	Anthracosauria
subclass	Amphibiosauria	Kuhn 1967
—	Cotylosauria	()
—	Amniota
—	Sauropsida
class	Reptilia
subclass	Eureptilia	()

Rank	Name	Author
—	Romeriida
—	Diapsida	()
—	Archosauromorpha	(Huene 1946)
—	Crocopoda
—	Archosauriformes	Gauthier 1986
—	Eucrocopoda
—	Archosauria	()
informal	Avemetatarsalia
—	Ornithodira
—	Dinosauromorpha
—	Dinosauriformes
—	Dinosauria	()
—	Saurischia	()
—	Theropoda	()
—	Neotheropoda
—	Averostra	Paul 2002
suborder	Ceratosauria	()
family	Noasauridae
subfamily	Elaphrosaurinae
genus	Elaphrosaurus

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

G. †Elaphrosaurus Janensch 1920

show all | hide all

†Elaphrosaurus bambergi Janensch 1920

Diagnosis

Reference	Diagnosis
O. W. M. Rauhut and M. T. Carrano 2016	Elaphrosaurus possesses the following unique characters amongst non-avian theropods: pronounced ventrolateral laminae at the posterior ends of the cervical vertebrae; cervical pre- and postzygapophyses narrow, more than 1.5 times longer than wide; cervical epipophyses absent; distal end of metacarpal II offset ventrally from shaft by a distinct step; large posterior flange on the posterior side of the ischia medially; proximal end of metatarsal IV almost 2.5 times deeper anteroposteriorly than wide transversely. If the ascending process of the astragalus is correctly identified, its extremely small size, extending for only ~3% of the length of the tibia, represents another apomorphy. Elaphrosaurus can be furthermore differentiated from all other theropods by the following unique combination of characters: elongate cervicals with deep anterior and posterior fossae on the lateral sides; cervicals flat to slightly concave ventrally and without keel; no pleurocoels or pleurocoelous fossae in the posterior cervical and anterior dorsal centra; six sacral vertebrae; mid-caudal vertebrae with low, rectangular neural spines; distal caudal vertebrae with centra that are considerably wider than high and with considerably broadened prezygapophyseal bases; scapula with very broad shaft, being 20% or more of the anteroposterior length of the element; deep vertical furrow over the glenoid on the proximal end of the scapula; humerus straight, with rounded proximal head and reduced deltopectoral crest, which turns medially distally; shortened metacarpals; strongly laterally flared lateral brevis shelf of the ilium; pubis lacks proximal plate and obturator foramen; ischium lacks distal incision between obturator flange and shaft, and has a well-developed distal boot; femur with anteromedially directed head and expanded (wing-like) lesser trochanter; tibia with anteriorly flattened distal end that is broad and triangular in outline; fibula with large depression on the medial side of the proximal end; proximal shaft of metatarsal II less than 50% the width of metatarsal IV.