Limnosaurus
LIM-no-SORE-us /ˌlɪmnəˈsɔːrəs/
Synonym of Telmatosaurus
lake lizard (or marsh lizard)
- limne · Greek · lake, marsh
- sauros · Greek · lizard
The name combines the Greek words for "lake" or "marsh" and "lizard". Nopcsa used it for a small duck-billed dinosaur from the Hațeg Basin of Transylvania. He probably chose it because he thought the animal lived near water.
- Named by
- Nopcsa
- Year named
- 1899
- Period
- Late Cretaceous
- Stage
- Maastrichtian
- Found in
- Sânpetru Formation, Hațeg Basin, Transylvania, Romania
Nopcsa's Limnosaurus transsylvanicus (1899) was a junior homonym, because the name Limnosaurus had already been used by Marsh in 1872 for a different, non-dinosaurian animal. Nopcsa replaced it with Telmatosaurus in 1903, and Telmatosaurus transsylvanicus is the currently used name. The motivation for the replacement and the details of Marsh's earlier use are from memory, so treat them with some caution.