Subphylum Vertebrata Subclass Archosauria Rank Genus | Phylum Chordata Class Sauropsida | |
Similar Cryptosaurus, Pterospondylus, Teinurosaurus, Niobrarasaurus, Regnosaurus | ||
Rhadinosaurus alcinus (meaning "slender lizard") is a genus of nodosaurid ankylosaur first described in 1881 by Harry Govier Seeley, based on remains uncovered in Austria. It was a herbivore that lived around 84.9 to 70.6 million years ago (during the Late Cretaceous period).
Contents
Fossils
The type specimen consists of two humeri, two fibulae, and two dorsal vertebrae. The fibulae were originally identified as femora in the original description, but were eventually re-identified in a 2001 review of ankylosaur specimens from the Grünbach Formation. In mm, the length of the femur is 238.3, with a humerus length of 187.5, scalpula of 257.9 X 88.3, a radius of 157.5, fibula length of 120.0, a tibia length of 177.5, and an ulna length of 195.0. Overall, it had a body mass of 55.3 kg based on the length of the femur.
Taxonomy
Rhadinosaurus was initially classified as a dinosaur of uncertain position, and later considered an ornithosuchid as well as possible synonym of Doratodon, until Franz Baron introduced the now popular theory that classifies it as a probable synonym of Struthiosaurus.