Kritosaurus

separated lizard

• kritos · Greek · separated
• sauros · Greek · lizard

Kritosaurus combines the Greek "kritos" (usually translated as "separated") with "sauros" (lizard). Barnum Brown coined it in 1910 for a hadrosaur skull from New Mexico, and the name is usually understood to refer to the separate, unfused skull bones that set it apart from other duck-billed dinosaurs. Some sources give a looser rendering such as "chosen lizard", so the exact intent is a little uncertain.

Named by

Brown

Year named

1910

Period

Late Cretaceous

Stage

Maastrichtian

Found in

Ojo Alamo Formation (Naashoibito Member), San Juan Basin, New Mexico, USA

A hadrosaurid (duck-billed dinosaur). The type species is K. navajovius. Material from Canada and elsewhere once placed in Kritosaurus was later moved to Gryposaurus. The genus rests on limited material, and its relationship to Anasazisaurus and Naashoibitosaurus has been debated, with some researchers treating those as synonyms. Details of the type locality and age are given from memory and may need checking.