Newtonsaurus (meaning Newton's lizard) is a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Late Triassic. It lived in what is now in Wales, United Kingdom. The type species is N. cambrensis.
Discovery and Naming[]
The holotype (GSM 6532) was discovered in the Lilstock Formation in Wales. A mason gave the fossil to John David, and it was described by Edwin Tully Newton as a species of Zanclodon. The name "Newtonsaurus" was coined in 1999 in a privately circulated work by Stephan Pickering. Eventually, Evans and his colleagues reexamined the specimen, and confirmed it as a new species. The generic name is named after Edwin Tully Newton, though some sources erroneously claim that the generic name is named after Sir Issac Newton. The specific name is Cambrensis, which is Wales' Latin name.
Description[]
The fossil, while only preserved as an external mould, preserves a high level of detail. Overall, the shape of the dentary is very similar to that of Dilophosaurus. The whole lower jaw was likely around 56 centimetres (22 in) and 5 cm (2 inches) long, and the whole animal would likely have been around 5–7 metres (16–23 ft) long, which makes it one of the largest known Triassic theropods, surpassing most of the small theropods in Triassic in size. These foramina are noticeably elongated along the axis of the length of the jaw, a unique characteristic of this genus.
Classification[]
It is classified as a member of basal theropods, aka Neotheropoda.
Gallery[]
