Ostafrikasaurus

East Africa lizard

• Ostafrika · German · East Africa
• sauros · Greek · lizard

The name combines the German word "Ostafrika" (meaning "East Africa") with the Greek word "sauros" (meaning "lizard"). It was named in reference to the region where its fossils were discovered — the Tendaguru Formation in what was once German East Africa (modern-day Tanzania). The name therefore literally means "East Africa lizard," honouring its geographic origin.

Named by

Buffetaut

Year named

2012

Period

Late Jurassic

Stages

Kimmeridgian – Tithonian

Found in

Tendaguru Formation, Tanzania

Ostafrikasaurus is known from a single tooth and is considered a ceratosaurian theropod, possibly one of the earliest spinosaurids or a close relative. Because the material is so fragmentary, some researchers regard its classification as tentative. It represents one of the oldest potential spinosauroid records from Africa.