Pronunciation: AT-las-KOP-ko-SOR-us
Meaning: Atlas Copco lizard
Author/s: Rich and Rich (1989)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Victoria, Australia
Discovery Chart Position: #341
Atlascopcosaurus loadsi
Unearthed at Dinosaur Cove in Victoria in 1984, Atlascopcosaurus was assigned to Hypsilophodontidae — a family of small, bipedal herbivores — by husband-and-wife team Tim and Patricia Vickers-Rich five years later, based solely on the presence of ridges on its cheek teeth.
However, non-hypsilophodonts such as Zalmoxes, Camptosaurus, Dryosaurus, Gasparinisaura and Talenkauen also possess ridged cheek teeth. Moreover, Hypsilophodontidae has since been abandoned due to a lack of members. Even Hypsilophodon — once the group’s archetype — has closer relatives elsewhere!
In their 2010 reappraisal of Australian dinosaurs, Agnolin and colleagues recovered Atlascopcosaurus as a basal ornithopod, perhaps closest to Gasparinisaura and Anabisetia. Yet its meagre remains continue to put the kibosh on a more concrete classification.
However, non-hypsilophodonts such as Zalmoxes, Camptosaurus, Dryosaurus, Gasparinisaura and Talenkauen also possess ridged cheek teeth. Moreover, Hypsilophodontidae has since been abandoned due to a lack of members. Even Hypsilophodon — once the group’s archetype — has closer relatives elsewhere!
In their 2010 reappraisal of Australian dinosaurs, Agnolin and colleagues recovered Atlascopcosaurus as a basal ornithopod, perhaps closest to Gasparinisaura and Anabisetia. Yet its meagre remains continue to put the kibosh on a more concrete classification.
(Loads' Atlas Copco lizard)Etymology
Atlascopcosaurus is derived from "Atlas Copco" (for Atlas Copco, the company who supplied drilling equipment for the expedition) and the Greek "sauros" (lizard). The species epithet, loadsi, honours the Atlas Copco regional company manager William Loads, who also assisted with the dig. Loadsa honour for the loadsi lizard.
Discovery
The remains of Atlascopcosaurus were discovered in the Eumeralla Formation (Otway Group) at Dinosaur Cove, Victoria, Australia, in 1984. The holotype (NMV P166409) is a piece of left-upper jaw bone (maxilla) and four cheek teeth.
