Holotype neural arch of C. pottonensis as seen from multiple angles
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Clade:
Dinosauria
Clade:
†Ornithischia
Clade:
†Thyreophora
Clade:
†Stegosauria
Genus:
†Craterosaurus Seeley, 1874
Species:
†C. pottonensis
Binomial name
†Craterosaurus pottonensis
Seeley 1874
Craterosaurus (meaning krater reptile or bowl reptile) was a genus of stegosaurid dinosaur. It lived during the Early Cretaceous (Aptian to Albian stages) around 121-113 million years ago. Its fossils were found in the Woburn Sands Formation of England. Craterosaurus may actually be a junior synonym of Regnosaurus,[1] but only one fossil, a partial vertebra, was recovered.
The holotype was discovered near Potton by a Mr. Charlesworth, and the type (and only known) species is Craterosaurus pottonensis, described in 1874 by Harry Seeley.[2] The specific name refers to the Potton bonebed. Seeley mistook the fossil, holotype SMC B.28814, for the base of a cranium. Franz Nopcsa in 1912 correctly identified it as the front part of a neural arch.[3]Craterosaurus was placed in Stegosauria by Galton,[4] although subsequent authors did not recognize Craterosaurus as a distinct, valid taxon.[5][6]
Size comparison, based on Kentrosaurus
^Parker, Steve. Dinosaurus: the complete guide to dinosaurs. Firefly Books Inc, 2003. Pg. 348
^Seeley, H.G. (1874). "On the base of a large lacertian cranium from the Potton Sands, presumably dinosaurian". Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London. 30 (1–4): 690–692. doi:10.1144/GSL.JGS.1874.030.01-04.62. S2CID 130042940.
^Nopcsa, F., 1912, "Notes on British dinosaurs. Pt. IV. Craterosaurus (Seeley)", Geological Magazine, (ser. 5), 9: 481-484
^Galton, P. (1981). "Craterosaurus pottonensis Seeley, a stegosaurian dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of England, and a review of Cretaceous stegosaurs". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen. 161 (1): 28–46.
^Maidment, Susannah C. R.; Norman, David B.; Barrett, Paul M.; Upchurch, Paul (January 2008). "Systematics and phylogeny of Stegosauria (Dinosauria: Ornithischia)". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 6 (4): 367–407. doi:10.1017/S1477201908002459. S2CID 85673680.
^Maidment, Susannah C. R. (2010). "Stegosauria: a historical review of the body fossil record and phylogenetic relationships". Swiss Journal of Geosciences. 103 (2): 199–210. doi:10.1007/s00015-010-0023-3. S2CID 84415016.
part of a neural arch. Craterosaurus was placed in Stegosauria by Galton, although subsequent authors did not recognize Craterosaurus as a distinct, valid...
be named Paranthodon. In 1874, other remains from England were named Craterosaurus. All three taxa were based on fragmentary material and were not recognised...
Cretaceous (early) Brighstone or Brook, Isle of Wight no later than 1876 Craterosaurus Cretaceous (early) Potton, Bedfordshire no later than 1874 Cruxicheiros...
Santonian) Belgium May be the first neoceratopsian known from Europe Craterosaurus 1874 Woburn Sands Formation (Early Cretaceous, Aptian to Albian) England...
2 November 2014. Retrieved 5 September 2014. Galton, P.M. (1981). "Craterosaurus pottonensis Seeley, a stegosaurian dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous...
ever been discovered; earlier finds as Paranthodon, Regnosaurus and Craterosaurus were too limited to be directly recognisable as representing a distinctive...
Global Information
