Spinostropheus

spined axis (spined pivot vertebra)

• spino- · Latin · spine
• strophe- · Greek · turning, pivot (referring to the axis vertebra, the 'epistropheus')

The name combines the Latin word for 'spine' with a Greek root meaning 'turning' or 'pivot'. The pivot refers to the axis, the second neck vertebra, which is also called the epistropheus. The name alludes to the prominent spine on the axis of this theropod. The species name gautieri honours the geologist Gautier, who was linked to the original fossil discovery.

Named by

Sereno et al.

Year named

2004

Period

Middle Jurassic

Found in

Tiourarén Formation, Niger

A noasaurid-type or abelisauroid ceratosaurian theropod. The species was first described in 1960 as Elaphrosaurus gautieri by Lapparent, and Sereno et al. gave it a new genus in 2004. The material is fragmentary, and some researchers question how diagnostic it is. The etymology details, especially the species-name honoree, are less certain, and the age is not firmly established.