Eucercosaurus (meaning "good-tailed lizard"[1]) is the name given to a genus of ornithopod dinosaur from the Albian stage of the Early Cretaceous. It was an ornithopod discovered in the Cambridge Greensand of England and is known from 19 centra, 3 sacrals, 4 dorsals and 12 caudals, and a neural arch found near Trumpington, Cambridgeshire.[1][2] The type species, E. tanyspondylus, was described by British paleontologist Harry Seeley in 1879.[3]

Eucercosaurus
Temporal range: late Albian
~105–100 Ma
Sacral vertebrae from the holotype
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Ornithischia
Clade: Neornithischia
Clade: Ornithopoda
Clade: Iguanodontia
Genus: Eucercosaurus
Seeley, 1879
Species:
E. tanyspondylus
Binomial name
Eucercosaurus tanyspondylus
Seeley, 1879
Synonyms

It is considered a dubious name, and was once considered an ankylosaur.[4] According to a 2020 study, Eucercosaurus and Syngonosaurus were basal iguanodontians.[5]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Untitled Document".
  2. ^ M. K. Vickaryous, T. Maryanska, and D. B. Weishampel. 2004. Ankylosauria. In D. B. Weishampel, P. Dodson, and H. Osmolska (eds.), The Dinosauria (second edition). University of California Press, Berkeley 363-392
  3. ^ Seeley, H.G. (1879). "On the Dinosauria of the Cambridge Greensand". Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society. 35 (1–4): 591–636. doi:10.1144/GSL.JGS.1879.035.01-04.42. ISSN 0370-291X. S2CID 129277596.
  4. ^ Superbiola, X.P.; Barrett, P.M. (1999). "A systematic review of ankylosaurian dinosaur remains from the Albian-Cenomanian of England". Special Papers in Palaeontology. 60: 177–208.
  5. ^ Barrett, Paul M.; Bonsor, Joseph A. (2020). "A revision of the non-avian dinosaurs Eucercosaurus tanyspondylus and Syngonosaurus macrocercus from the Cambridge Greensand, UK". Cretaceous Research. 118: 104638. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104638. S2CID 225289654.