Palaeosauriscus

ancient little lizard

• palaeo- · Greek · ancient, old
• sauros · Greek · lizard
• -iscus · Latin/Greek · little / diminutive suffix

The name combines the Greek prefix 'palaeo-' (ancient) with 'sauros' (lizard) and the diminutive suffix '-iscus', giving the overall sense of 'ancient little lizard'. The '-iscus' ending was commonly appended to distinguish the genus from similarly named forms (here, from the older name Palaeosaurus). It was chosen to reflect both the antiquity of the animal and its reptilian nature.

Named by

Kuhn

Year named

1959

Period

Late Triassic

Stage

Norian

Found in

England, UK

Palaeosauriscus was erected by Kuhn (1959) as a replacement name for Palaeosaurus Riley & Stutchbury, 1836, which was preoccupied by Palaeosaurus Meyer, 1832 (a different reptile). The material — isolated teeth and fragmentary remains from the Late Triassic of England — is too incomplete for confident identification, and the genus is widely regarded as a nomen dubium. It is uncertain whether the animal was a true dinosaur or another archosaur; it is often listed among early dinosaur-like reptiles tentatively.