Anchisaurus

Anchisaurus
Temporal range: Early Jurassic, 200–195 Ma
↓
Life restoration
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: †Sauropodomorpha
Clade: †Sauropodiformes
Clade: †Anchisauria
Genus: †Anchisaurus
Marsh, 1885
Species:
†A. polyzelus
Binomial name
†Anchisaurus polyzelus
(Hitchcock, 1865)
Synonyms
  • Megadactylus polyzelus
    Hitchcock, 1865 (preoccupied)
  • Amphisaurus polyzelus
    (Hitchcock, 1865) (preoccupied)
  • Anchisaurus major
    Marsh, 1889
  • Ammosaurus major
    (Marsh, 1889)
  • Anchisaurus colurus
    Marsh, 1891
  • Yaleosaurus colurus
    (Marsh, 1891)
  • Anchisaurus solus
    Marsh, 1892

Anchisaurus is a genus of basal sauropodomorph dinosaur.[1] It lived during the Early Jurassic Period, and its fossils have been found in the red sandstone of the Upper Portland Formation, Northeastern United States, which was deposited from the Hettangian age into the Sinemurian age, between about 200 and 192 million years ago.[2] Until recently it was classed as a member of Prosauropoda. The genus name Anchisaurus comes from the Greek αγχι (agkhi) anchi-; "near, close" + Greek σαυρος (sauros); "lizard". Anchisaurus was coined as a replacement name for "Amphisaurus", which was itself a replacement name for Hitchcock's "Megadactylus", both of which had already been used for other animals.

  1. ^ Gaines, Richard M. (2001). Coelophysis. ABDO Publishing Company. p. 14. ISBN 1-57765-488-9.
  2. ^ Olsen, P.E. (2002). STRATIGRAPHY AND AGE OF THE EARLY JURASSIC PORTLAND FORMATION OF CONNECTICUT AND MASSACHUSETTS: A CONTRIBUTION TO THE TIME SCALE OF THE EARLY JURASSIC Archived 2018-11-28 at the Wayback Machine. Session No. 26 Studies of Depositional Systems and Sedimentary Rocks: In Honor of Edward Scudder Belt. 37th Annual Meeting (March 25–27, 2002).