Pronunciation:
Meaning: Dorset plunderer
Author/s: Baron (2024)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Dorset, England
Discovery Chart Position: #1127
Dornraptor normani
(Norman's Dorset Plunderer)Etymology
Dornraptor is derived from "Dorn" (the shortened version of "Dornwaraceasetr", which is the Anglo-Saxon term for the
area of England roughly equivalent to the modern
County of Dorset, where the material comes from) and the Latin "raptor" (plunderer, robber).The species epithet, normani, honours the notable Cambridge palaeontologist Dr. David B. Norman, who has worked extensively on other dinosaurs from the Jurassic of the UK, including Scelidosaurus harrisoni, a taxon to which this material was once erroneously assigned (by Owen in 1859). Dr. Norman has made significant contributions to both the scientific literature on the Dinosauria and to the training of a new generation of palaeontologists from the UK and abroad. His impact and legacy cannot be understated. ZooBank registry: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:465EFE33-6AB8-43C3-8F20-11D94B8730E2.
Synonyms
"Merosaurus newmani" (Pickering, 1995)
Discovery
The remains of Dornraptor were discovered in the Blue Lias Formation (Lower Lias Group), Charmouth, Dorset, England, by quarry owner James Harrison in 1858.
The holotype (BMNH 39496) is a knee joint, formed by the bottom end of a right thigh and the top third of a shin and calf, the latter of which is now lost.
A partial left thigh (GSM 109560) was also referred to Dornraptor.
All fossils were originally part of the material that Owen named Scelidosaurus in 1859.
