#thespesius

[fundinofactoftheday]

Dinofact #109

Edmontosaurus' taxonomic history is quite complicated, with specimens belonging to E. annectens being classified as many other species, such as Hadrosaurus, Diclonius, and Claosaurus, as well as the dubious genera Trachodon and Thespesius, and, now synonymous with Edmontosaurus, the genera Anatosaurus and Anatotitan.

Source: Wikipedia

[horrible-lizards]

Thespesius, 1901, by Charles R. Knight

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Thespesius occidentalis

By Jack Wood on @thewoodparable

PLEASE support us on Patreon! We really do need all of your support to keep this blog running - any amount helps!

Name: Thespius occidentalis

Name Meaning: Wondrous One

First Described: 1856

Described By: Leidy

Classification: Dinosauria, Ornithischia, Genasauria, Neornithischia, Cerapoda, Ornithopoda, Iguanodontia, Dryomorpha, Ankylopollexia, Styracosterna, Hadrosauriformes, Hadrosauroidea, Hadrosauridae, Saurolophinae

Thespesius is a poorly known Saurolophine that, nonetheless, has one of the more interesting genus names given to a dinosaur, discovered in the Lance Formation in South Dakota. It lived about 66 million years ago, in the Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous, making it one of the later surviving hadrosaurs. It was described based on some vertebrae and a phalanx of what seemed to be colossal size, indicating that it would have been a fairly large hadrosaur. At the time of its discovery it was uncertain whether the remains came from the Cretaceous or the Miocene, and as such it wasn’t given a -saurus suffix, on the off chance it was a mammal. Though it was found to be a dinosaur, later research on the animal revealed it to be poorly known, and though often a classically important hadrosaur, much like Trachodon, it hasn’t been given much attention or import since the early 1900s. 

Source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thespesius

Shout out goes to @revedas!