Phaedrolosaurus

nimble/bright lizard

• phaedros · Greek · bright, nimble, gleaming
• sauros · Greek · lizard

The name combines the Greek word 'phaedros' (φαιδρός), meaning bright, cheerful, or nimble, with the Greek 'sauros', meaning lizard. The 'phaedros' element was likely chosen to evoke the agility and liveliness thought to characterise this carnivorous dinosaur. The name thus translates roughly as 'nimble lizard' or 'bright lizard'.

Named by

Dong

Year named

1973

Period

Early Cretaceous

Stages

Hauterivian – Barremian

Found in

Lianmuqin Formation, Xinjiang, China

Phaedrolosaurus is generally regarded as a nomen dubium. It was described by Chinese palaeontologist Dong Zhiming in 1973 from fragmentary material (teeth and a claw) from Xinjiang, China. The remains are too incomplete to confidently diagnose the genus or assign it reliably to a family; it has been tentatively referred to the dromaeosaurids or other coelurosaurs. No synonymy with a valid genus has been firmly established.