Erectopus

upright foot

• erectus · Latin · upright, erect
• pous · Greek · foot

The name combines the Latin "erectus" (upright) with the Greek "pous" (foot), giving "upright foot". It was coined for a theropod first described in 1882 as Megalosaurus superbus, which was later given its own genus. The type species is Erectopus superbus.

Named by

von Huene

Year named

1923

Period

Early Cretaceous

Stage

Albian

Found in

Gault Clay, Louppy-le-Château, Meuse, northeastern France

A medium-to-large carnivorous theropod known from fragmentary remains. Its exact classification is debated; it has been placed among allosauroids and, more recently, sometimes with basal tetanurans or related groups. The type species was originally named Megalosaurus superbus by Sauvage in 1882. Details of the etymology's rationale are not certain.