Cristatusaurus Temporal range: Early Cretaceous (Albian–Aptian),
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Diagram illustrating possible size and skeletal reconstruction combining several fossil specimens | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Clade: | Saurischia |
Clade: | Theropoda |
Clade: | Avetheropoda |
Infraorder: | †Carnosauria |
Family: | †Spinosauridae |
Subfamily: | †Baryonychinae |
Genus: | †Cristatusaurus Taquet and Russell, 1998 |
Species: | †C. lapparenti
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Binomial name | |
Cristatusaurus lapparenti Taquet and Russell, 1998
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Synonyms | |
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Cristatusaurus was a carnivorous theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of West Africa. Its fossils look very similar to the ones from Baryonyx and Suchomimus. [1]
The first specimens were found in Niger in 1973 by a French paleontologist named Philippe Taquet. The name of the animal refers to the Latin word for crest, "crista", because it had a crest on its snout. The species "lapparenti" is named after another French paleontologist called Albert-Félix de Lapparent.[1] The fossils discovered so far include two broken snout bones, some pieces from the upper and lower jaws, a claw, and four backbones (also called ''vertebrae''). Scientists aren't sure if Cristatusaurus is a new species, some of them say it could be the same dinosaur as Suchomimus or Baryonyx.[2]