.png "ardetosaurus")
Pronunciation:
Meaning: Burnt lizard
Author/s: van der Linden et al. (2024)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Wyoming,
Discovery Chart Position: #1145
Ardetosaurus viator
(Travelling Bunt Lizard)Etymology
Ardetosaurus is derived from "Ardeto" (an inflection of the Latin " ārdēre", meaning "to burn") and the Greek "sauros" (lizard). The name refers to some of the fossils (stored for preparation at the Dinosaurier Freilichtmuseum in Münchehagen which was, through malicious arson, burnt down on the night of October 4th, 2003) being either fully destroyed by fire or burn scarred. The species epithet, viator, means "traveller" in latin, referring to the journey of the specimen from the USA, via Switzerland and Germany, to the Netherlands. ZooBank registry: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:91EAAC72-3D66-46E8-81B0-02C84E27BA22.
Discovery
The first remains of Ardetosaurus were discovered in the Morrison Formation at Howe-Stephens Quarry on the Howe Ranch, north of Shell, Wyoming, USA, in 1993, during the excavation of a Camarasaurus specimen known as "E.T."
The holotype (MAB011899) consists of two neck vertebrae, ten back vertebrae and eight ribs, a fused block of hip vertebrae, five tail vertebrae, two chevrons, a left shoulder bone (coracoid), bones from the pelvic girdle (a left ilium, both pubes, both ischia), a left thigh, a left shin, and a partial left calfbone.
