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Thyreosaurus atlasicus

Reptilia - Stegosauridae

Taxonomy
Thyreosaurus atlasicus was named by Zafaty et al. (2024). Its type specimen is HIIUC-BN00, a partial skeleton (Partial postcranial skeleton that includes 9 dorsal vertebrae and 21 dorsal rib remains, a limb bone (fibula?), and six dermal elements), and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Boulahfa North (El Mers II, lower), which is in a Bathonian/Callovian terrestrial marl/siltstone in the El Mers III Formation of Morocco. It is the type species of Thyreosaurus.

Synonymy list
YearName and author
2024Thyreosaurus atlasicus Zafaty et al. p. 347

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RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
—Bilateria
—EubilateriaAx 1987
—Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
—Osteichthyes()
subclassSarcopterygii()
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha(Nelson 2006)
subclassTetrapodomorpha()
—Tetrapoda
—Reptiliomorpha
—Anthracosauria
subclassAmphibiosauriaKuhn 1967
—Cotylosauria()
—Amniota
—Sauropsida
classReptilia
subclassEureptilia()
RankNameAuthor
—Romeriida
—Diapsida()
—Archosauromorpha(Huene 1946)
—Crocopoda
—ArchosauriformesGauthier 1986
—Eucrocopoda
—Archosauria()
informalAvemetatarsalia
—Ornithodira
—Dinosauromorpha
—Dinosauriformes
—Dinosauria()
—Ornithischia()
—Genasauria
—Thyreophora()
—Stegosauria()
familyStegosauridae
subfamilyDacentrurinae()
genusThyreosaurus
speciesatlasicus

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.

†Thyreosaurus atlasicus Zafaty et al. 2024
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Diagnosis
ReferenceDiagnosis
O. Zafaty et al. 2024Differs from all other stegosaurs in having thick osteoderms that are suboval to subrectangular in shape, with an asymmetrical texture: one side is irregularly ornamented and bears small pits, and the other surface is ornamented with a
cross-hatched pattern; the arrangement of the dermal elements is assumed to be recumbent rather than erect.

Thyreosaurus differs from Dacentrurus and Adratiklit in the smaller overall dimensions of the dorsal centra relative to the neural arch. Moreover, the autapomorphies described for the other stegosaur found in the El Mers III Formation, Adratiklit (anteriorly projecting rugosities related to the anterior centroparapophysial laminae on either side of the neural canal in dorsal vertebrae and small, triangular, rugose protuberance situated dorsally on the prezygapophyses posterior to the articular facets), are absent in Thyreosaurus.
Measurements
No measurements are available
Composition: hydroxyapatiteo
Entire body: yeso
Adult length: 10 to < 100o
Adult width: 1.0 to < 10o
Adult height: 1.0 to < 10o
Architecture: compact or denseo
Ontogeny: accretion, modification of partso
Grouping: gregariouso
Environment: terrestrialo
Locomotion: actively mobileo
Life habit: ground dwellingo
Diet: herbivoreo
Reproduction: oviparouso
Dispersal: direct/internalo
Dispersal 2: mobileo
Created: 2004-12-14 12:50:52
Modified: 2004-12-14 14:50:52
Source: o = order
Reference: Marsh 1875

Age range: base of the Late/Upper Bathonian to the top of the Callovian or 168.20000 to 161.50000 Ma

Collections: one only


Time interval Ma Country or state Original ID and collection number
Late/Upper Bathonian - Callovian168.2 - 161.5Morocco (Fès-Meknes) Thyreosaurus atlasicus (type locality: 234450)