Macrurosaurus

long-tailed lizard

• makros · Greek · long
• oura · Greek · tail
• sauros · Greek · lizard

The name combines the Greek words 'makros' (long), 'oura' (tail), and 'sauros' (lizard), giving the meaning 'long-tailed lizard'. It was chosen to reflect the notably elongated caudal (tail) vertebrae found among the fossil material, which suggested a particularly long tail in life. The genus was named by Harry Seeley in 1876 on the basis of fragmentary vertebral remains from England.

Named by

Seeley

Year named

1876

Period

Early Cretaceous

Stages

Hauterivian – Barremian

Found in

Cambridge Greensand, Cambridgeshire, England, UK

Macrurosaurus is generally considered a nomen dubium. It is a sauropod dinosaur (likely a titanosauriform or related group) known only from fragmentary caudal vertebrae, which are insufficient to confidently diagnose it or assign it to a more specific group. Because the material is so incomplete, the name cannot be reliably applied, and most modern reviews treat it as indeterminate.