CleanupBot II at 09:39, 14 August 2023

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{{Short description|Extinct genus of reptiles}}
{{automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = [[Late Cretaceous]], {{fossil range|70|latest=66}}
| taxon = Lametasaurus
| authority = [[Charles Alfred Matley|Matley]], [[1923 in paleontology|1923]]
| type_species = '''''Lametasaurus indicus'''''
| type_species_authority = [[Charles Alfred Matley|Matley]], [[1923 in paleontology|1923]]
}}

'''''Lametasaurus''''' (luh-MAY-tuh-SAWR-us - meaning "Lameta lizard") named for the [[Lameta Formation]], [[Jabalpur]], [[India]], is the generic name given to a possible dubious [[dinosaur]] species. Originally it indicated a possible [[chimera (paleontology)|chimera]] composed of several different animals. They were ground dwelling carnivores.<ref>{{cite web|last=Bervoets|first=Fred|title=Lametasaurus Indicus|url=http://www.dinodata.info/index.php?topic=1809.0|publisher=Dino Data|access-date=2012-04-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130317175001/http://www.dinodata.info/index.php?topic=1809.0|archive-date=2013-03-17|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==History of discovery==
Between October 1917 and 1919 [[Charles Alfred Matley]] excavated fossils near Jabalpur.<ref name=Carrano2010>Carrano, M.T., J.A. Wilson, P. M. Barrett, 2010, "The history of dinosaur collecting in central India since 1828", In: Moody, R.T.J., E. Buffetaut, D. Naish, and D. M. Martill (eds.), ''Dinosaurs and Other Extinct Saurians: A Historical Perspective''. Geological Society, London, Special Publications '''343''': 161–173</ref> In 1921 he reported the find in the "Carnosaur Bed" of what he considered to be two megalosaurians, [[theropod]] dinosaurs.<ref>Matley, C.A., 1921, "On the stratigraphy, fossils and geological relationships of the Lameta beds of Jubbulpore", ''Records of the Geological Survey of India'' '''53''': 142–169</ref> In 1923/1924 he named one of these as the [[type species]] ''Lametasaurus indicus''. The generic name refers to the Lameta Formation, dating from the [[Maastrichtian]], the [[specific name (zoology)|specific name]] refers to India. However, Matley no longer identified it as a theropod but as a member of the [[Stegosauria]] instead, which concept at the time also included the armoured dinosaurs today assigned to the [[Ankylosauria]]; at first Matley had seen it as a stegosaurian in the modern sense and even intended to name it as a species of ''[[Omosaurus]]''.<ref name=Carrano2010/> The [[type specimen]] consisted of a number of dermal scutes, a [[sacrum]] of at least five [[sacral vertebrae]], a [[pelvis]], a [[tibia]] and teeth.<ref>Matley, C.A., 1923, "Note on an armoured dinosaur from the Lameta beds of Jubbulpore", ''Records of the Geological Survey of India'', '''55''': 105-109</ref> In 1933 Matley and [[Friedrich von Huene]] described some more remains collected by [[Barnum Brown]],<ref name=Carrano2010/> thought to have been part of a tail club;<ref>Huene, F. von, & Matley, C.A., 1933, "The Cretaceous Saurischia and Ornithischia of the central provinces of India", ''Palaeontologia Indica'', '''21''': 1–74</ref> later this was shown to be a large osteoderm.<ref name=Carrano2010/>

However, in 1935 [[Dhirendra Kishore Chakravarti]] contested the interpretation as an armoured dinosaur. He claimed that the specimen was a chimera including [[titanosaur]]id [[Armour (zoology)|armor]], [[crocodile]] teeth and theropod hindlimb material.<ref>Chakravarti, D. K., 1935, "Is ''Lametasaurus indicus'' an armored dinosaur?", ''American Journal of Science'' '''30'''(5): 138-141</ref> In 1964 [[Alick Walker]] chose the scutes as the [[lectotype]], thus removing the teeth and the bones from the type material.<ref>Walker, A., 1964, "Triassic reptiles from the Elgin area: ''Ornithosuchus'' and the origin of carnosaurs", ''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B'' '''248''': 53-134</ref> The name ''Lametasaurus'' now designated the scutes only and was generally considered to represent a member of the [[Nodosauridae]]. The pelvis and hindlimb bones have in 2003 been suggested to belong to ''[[Rajasaurus]]''.<ref>J.A. Wilson, P.C. Sereno, S. Srivastava, D.K. Bhatt, A. Khosla and A. Sahni, 2003, "A new abelisaurid (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from the Lameta Formation (Cretaceous, Maastrichtian) of India", ''Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan'' '''31'''(1): 1-42</ref> In 2008 [[Matthew Carrano]] e.a. discarded the possibility the scutes were ankylosaurian, stating they were probably titanosaurian or perhaps [[Abelisauridae|abelisaurid]], in which latter case the species would possibly not have been a chimera in the first place and be a possible senior synonym of ''[[Indosaurus]]'' and/or ''Rajasaurus''.<ref>M.T. Carrano and S.D. Sampson, 2008, "The phylogeny of Ceratosauria (Dinosauria: Theropoda)", ''Journal of Systematic Palaeontology'' '''6'''(2): 183-236</ref>

The type material has been lost, lacking a known inventory number, making it difficult to test the several hypotheses. The [[taxon]] is today commonly seen as a ''[[nomen dubium]]''.<ref>F.E. Novas, S. Chatterjee, D.K. Rudra and P.M. Datta, 2010, "''Rahiolisaurus gujaratensis'', n. gen. n. sp., a new abelisaurid theropod from the Late Cretaceous of India". In: S. Badyopadhyay (ed.), ''New Aspects of Mesozoic Biodiversity''. Lecture Notes in Earth Sciences 132, pp. 45-62</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060315213517/http://www.dinosauria.com/dml/names/dinol.htm Dinosauria Translation and Pronunciation Guide]
*http://paleodb.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?a=basicTaxonInfo&taxon_no=57450

{{Theropoda|B.}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q285063}}

[[Category:Invalid dinosaurs]]
[[Category:Late Cretaceous dinosaurs]]
[[Category:Dinosaurs of India and Madagascar]]
[[Category:Paleontological chimeras]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Charles Alfred Matley]]
[[Category:Fossil taxa described in 1923]]

Lametasaurus - Revision history

CleanupBot II at 09:39, 14 August 2023