Amphisaurus

both-sided lizard (approximately)

• amphi · Greek · both, on both sides, around
• sauros · Greek · lizard

The name combines the Greek "amphi" (both, around) with "sauros" (lizard). It was coined as a genus name for an early sauropodomorph from the Connecticut Valley of the eastern USA. The name was already used for another animal, so it could not be kept. It was replaced by Anchisaurus.

Named by

Hitchcock

Year named

1865

Period

Early Jurassic

Found in

Connecticut Valley, eastern USA

Amphisaurus is a preoccupied name (a junior homonym), and Anchisaurus is the name now used in its place. I'm not fully certain who named it or when. The author and date given may be wrong, and some sources attribute the name to Marsh (1882). The exact reasoning behind the name is also not well documented, so the etymology is a best reading of the Greek roots.