Deuterosaurus

second lizard

• deuteros · Greek · second
• sauros · Greek · lizard

The name combines the Greek word "deuteros" (second) with "sauros" (lizard). It was applied because the specimens were considered to represent a second, or later, form of large reptile found in the Permian deposits of Russia. The name reflects the 19th-century convention of distinguishing successive fossil reptile discoveries with ordinal Greek prefixes.

Named by

Eichwald

Year named

1848

Period

Late Permian

Stage

Wuchiapingian

Found in

Cisural/Ural region, Russia

Deuterosaurus is not a dinosaur — it is a dinocephalian therapsid (a synapsid), belonging to the group Titanosuchia. It lived during the Late Permian and is part of the lineage that eventually gave rise to mammals, not to dinosaurs or other archosaurs. It is sometimes considered a nomen dubium due to the fragmentary nature of the type material. It should not be confused with dinosaurs, though it is occasionally mentioned in popular prehistoric-life literature.