Helopus

marsh foot

• helos · Greek · marsh
• pous · Greek · foot

Helopus combines the Greek "helos" (marsh) and "pous" (foot), so it means "marsh foot". Wiman chose it in 1929 for a long-necked sauropod from China, with the name probably alluding to a marshy habitat. The name was already in use for another animal, so it was replaced by Euhelopus ("true marsh foot") in 1956.

Named by

Wiman

Year named

1929

Period

Early Cretaceous

Found in

Mengyin Formation, Shandong, China

Helopus Wiman, 1929 (type species Helopus zdanskyi) is a junior homonym because the name was already used for an earlier genus. Romer replaced it with the new name Euhelopus in 1956. Euhelopus is the valid name today, and Helopus is not used for the dinosaur.