Eoabelisaurus

dawn Abel's lizard

• eo · Greek · dawn
• Abeli · Latinised name · of Abel (Roberto Abel, discoverer of Abelisaurus)
• saurus · Greek · lizard

The name combines the Greek "eos" (dawn) with "Abelisaurus", itself meaning "Abel's lizard" after Roberto Abel, who found the first Abelisaurus fossil. It was chosen because Eoabelisaurus is a very early, geologically ancient member of the abelisaurid group, which was previously known mainly from the Cretaceous. The species name, mefi, honours the Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio (MEF) in Argentina.

Named by

Pol et al.

Year named

2012

Period

Middle Jurassic

Found in

Cañadón Asfalto Formation, Chubut Province, Patagonia, Argentina

A valid genus (type species Eoabelisaurus mefi), known from a nearly complete skeleton. It is the oldest known abelisaurid, and its discovery extended the group's record by tens of millions of years. The exact age of the Cañadón Asfalto Formation has been debated, so the stage is left unspecified.