Morinosaurus

Morini lizard

• Morini · Latin · the Morini (an ancient Belgic tribe of the region of modern Boulogne, northern France)
• sauros · Greek · lizard

The name combines "Morini", the Latin name for an ancient Belgic tribe who inhabited the coastal region around what is now Boulogne-sur-Mer in northern France, with the Greek "sauros" meaning lizard. It was named in reference to the location where the fossil material was discovered. The Morini were famously described by Julius Caesar as dwelling at the edge of the world ("extremi hominum"), making the name a nod to both ancient geography and classical history.

Named by

Sauvage

Year named

1874

Period

Late Jurassic

Stage

Kimmeridgian

Found in

Boulonnais region, Pas-de-Calais, France

Morinosaurus is generally regarded as a nomen dubium. It was originally described by Sauvage (1874) from fragmentary sauropod remains (teeth and vertebrae) found in the Kimmeridgian-age deposits of the Boulonnais area of northern France. The material is too incomplete to reliably diagnose the genus, and it has not been confidently assigned to any well-known sauropod family. Some researchers have tentatively suggested affinities with camarasaurid or brachiosaurid sauropods, but this remains uncertain.