Brachypodosaurus

short-footed lizard

• brachys · Greek · short
• podos · Greek · foot
• sauros · Greek · lizard

The name combines three Greek roots: 'brachys' (short), 'podos' (foot), and 'sauros' (lizard), giving the overall meaning 'short-footed lizard'. It was coined to reflect the notably short and stout forelimb bones — specifically the humerus — found among the fragmentary remains. The name draws attention to the proportionally compact limb anatomy that distinguished these fossils from other sauropods known at the time.

Named by

Chakravarti

Year named

1934

Period

Late Cretaceous

Stage

Maastrichtian

Found in

Lameta Formation, Madhya Pradesh, India

Brachypodosaurus is generally regarded as a nomen dubium. It was described by Chakravarti in 1934 on the basis of very fragmentary material (a single humerus) from the Lameta Formation of India. Because the remains are too incomplete to reliably diagnose the genus or distinguish it from other titanosaurian sauropods known from the same formation, most modern reviews consider it a doubtful name. It is not a junior synonym of any specific genus but is simply undiagnosable.