Pronunciation: KAY-see-o-SOR-us
Meaning: Case's lizard
Author/s: Hunt, Lucas, et al. (1998)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Texas, USA
Discovery Chart Position: #422
Caseosaurus crosbyensis
Caseosaurus crosbyensis was initially named Coelophysis sp. by discoverer Ermine Cowles Case, but in 1995 Long and Murry assigned it to Chindesaurus, which is another small, bipedal, predatory dinosaur from roughly the same time and place. Hunt, Lucas, Heckert, Sullivan and Lockley renamed this same fossil Caseosaurus in honor of Case in 1998 because of differences between the partial ilium (hip bone) that represents the entirety of its remains and the corresponding bone of Chindesaurus. But this raised more than the odd eyebrow amongst paleontologists, not least because the latter dinosaur's remains don't actually include a hip!
In a 2007 review of Triassic critters, Sterling Nesbitt hinted that its remains should never have been moved from Chindesaurus in the first place, but a full-on synonomy is being hampered by naff fossils. It appears that Caseosaurus is on borrowed time.
In a 2007 review of Triassic critters, Sterling Nesbitt hinted that its remains should never have been moved from Chindesaurus in the first place, but a full-on synonomy is being hampered by naff fossils. It appears that Caseosaurus is on borrowed time.
(Case's lizard from Crosby County)Etymology
Caseosaurus is derived from the surname of its discoverer Ermine Cowles Case (1871-1953) and the Greek "sauros" (lizard).The species epithet, crosbyensis (kroz-bee-EN-sis), means "from Crosby County" in Latin.
Discovery
The remains of Caseosaurus were discovered in the Tecovas Formation (Dockum Group) of Crosby County, Texas, USA, by Case. The holotype (UMMP 8870) is a partial ilium (a hip bone), some 141 mm in length.
