Dryptosauroides

Dryptosaurus-like lizard (resembling Dryptosaurus)

• Dryptosaurus · Greek/Latin · tearing lizard (the genus it resembles)
• -oides · Greek · resembling, having the form of

The name combines the genus name Dryptosaurus — itself from the Greek 'dryptos' (torn, lacerated) and 'sauros' (lizard) — with the Greek suffix '-oides', meaning 'resembling' or 'having the form of'. It was thus coined to indicate that this animal was similar in character to Dryptosaurus, a large theropod from North America. The name reflects the practice of naming Indian dinosaurs by comparison with better-known Western genera.

Named by

Huene and Matley

Year named

1933

Period

Late Cretaceous

Stage

Maastrichtian

Found in

Lameta Formation, Madhya Pradesh, India

Dryptosauroides is a nomen dubium. It was described by Huene and Matley (1933) from fragmentary material (vertebrae) from the Lameta Formation of India. The material is too incomplete to reliably diagnose a distinct genus, and it has not been referred to a more securely known taxon. It is generally considered an indeterminate theropod dinosaur.