Regnosaurus

Regnian lizard

• Regnum · Latin · the Regni (an ancient British tribe of Sussex)
• sauros · Greek · lizard

The name combines a Latinised reference to the Regni (or Regnenses), the ancient Celtic tribe that inhabited the region of modern Sussex, England, where the fossils were found. The second element is the Greek 'sauros', meaning lizard. It was named in honour of the region's ancient inhabitants, following a tradition of naming dinosaurs after the geographical or cultural heritage of their discovery site. The name therefore means roughly 'lizard of the Regni' or 'Sussex lizard'.

Named by

Mantell

Year named

1848

Period

Early Cretaceous

Stages

Hauterivian – Barremian

Found in

Hastings Beds (Wealden Group), Sussex, England, UK

Regnosaurus is a stegosaur (thyreophoran ornithischian dinosaur) known only from a fragmentary lower jaw fragment. Because the material is so incomplete, it is widely regarded as a nomen dubium — a doubtful name that cannot be reliably distinguished from other stegosaurs. It was one of the earliest stegosaurs named, described by the pioneering English geologist and palaeontologist Gideon Mantell.