| Lametasaurus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, Maastrichtian 70–66Ma | |
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| Life restoration of L. indicus as an Ankylosaurid by Fossil Crates. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | †Ornithischia |
| Clade: | †Thyreophora |
| Clade: | †Ankylosauria |
| Genus: | †Lametasaurus Matley, 1923 |
| Species: | †L. indicus |
| Binomial name | |
| †Lametasaurus indicus Matley, 1923 | |
Lametasaurus is a dubious genus and potentially chimeric genus of ankylosaurian thyreophoran that lived during Late Cretaceous of India. The type and the only known species is L. indicus.
Description[]
The original specimen of Lametasaurus consists of osteoderms and scutes with referred Tibia, Sarcum and Ilium, which are now being referred to Rajasaurus according to Wilson et al., 2003. He also noted that the scutes and osteoderms could belong to an Ankylosaur, Titanosaur or maybe even a Crocodylomorph. In 2020, Rozadilla and his colleagues have described that all osteoderms of the Lametasaurus have ankylosaurian affiliates.
Discovery and Naming[]
The holotype of Lametasaurus was during early 1900s, by Matley during his expedition in central Indian "Carnosaur Bed". He named it as as a new new genus and species of dinosaur "Lametasaurus indicus", where the genus name "Lameta" is after the Lameta Formation where the fossils were discovered, "saurus" is the greek word for lizard and the species name "indicus" is after the country of India, he identified it as a probable thyreophoran (a stegosaurian to be specific), he later on reidentified it as an ankylosaurian. In Mid 1900s, Chakravarti had noticed that the specimen consists of titanosaurian and pseudosuchian material (armor and teeth respectively). In 2003 Wilson and his colleagues had noted that the some fossils of the specimen shows similarities to Rajasaurus. Though some referred osteoderms also shows similarities to ankylosaurians.
Classification[]
As of now, Lametasaurus can be confidentially assigned to Ankylosauria on the basis of scutes and osteoderms. Though whether it was an Ankylosaurid, a Nodosaurid or a Parankylosaur is unknown.
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