Pronunciation: FYE-laks
Meaning: Keeper
Author/s: Prieto-Márquez and Farias (2021)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Lleida province, Spain
Discovery Chart Position: #1045
Fylax thyrakolasus
(Keeper of the Gates of Hell)Etymology
In Greek, Fylax means "keeper". The species epithet, thyrakolasus (thy-ra-KO-la-sus), is derived from the Greek "thýra" (gate) and "kólasi" (hell). Combined, the name means "keeper of the gates of hell", in reference to its proximity to the Late
Cretaceous mass extinction event.
ZooBank registry: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:97E63552-0A0B-4208-8F25-9161CA2731EF.
Discovery
The remains of Fylax were discovered in the Figuerola Formation near Fontllonga village, next
to the c-13 road between the municipalities of Camarasa and
La Baronia de Sant Oisme, Noguera county, in the southern reaches of
the Montsec mountain range of Lleida province, Spain, in the early 1990s.
The holotype (IPS-36338) is a left dentary, the tooth-bearing bone of the lower jaw.
