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Acaenasuchus Long & Murry 1995 "thorn crocodile"
a-SEEN-a-SOOK-us (Gr. akaina "thorn" + Gr. soukhos "crocodile") (m) named for "the thorn-like spikes developed on the armor" along the back. Stegonolepididae L. Trias. NA.
Acompsosaurus Mehl 1915 "sturdy lizard"
a-KOMP-so-SAWR-us (Gr. akompsos "not delicate, unadorned" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) "the massive construction of the girdle has suggested the name..."; based on a nearly complete pelvic girdle. L. Trias. NA. [nomen dubium (= ?Stagonolepis)]
Aetosauroides Casamiquela 1960 "Aetosaurus-like (reptile)"
ay-ET-o-saw-ROI-deez (t.L.m. AY-e-to-SAWR-o-IE-deez) (Aetosaurus + -oides "like") (m) named for its resemblance to Aetosaurus. Stegonolepididae L. Trias. SA.
Aetosaurus O. Fraas 1877 "eagle (skull) lizard"
ay-ET-o-SAWR-us (t.L.m.: AY-e-to-SAWR-us) (Gr. aetos "eagle" + Gr. sauros "lizard")* (m) referring to the alleged birdlike construction of the skull. According to Fraas: "The fenestrated skull, in which there are three additional openings besides the orbit and nostril... [with] the absence of bony partitions, which separate the paired openings, is so typically bird-like, that, on this basis, the saurian gets its genus name Aëtosaurus [aetos eagle]." The supposed avian affinities of Aetosaurus were once taken seriously, and G. Heilmann (The Origin of Birds) apparently based his somewhat inaccurate restoration of the skull of Archaeopteryx, in part, on the skull of Aetosaurus, in line with his proposed "pseudosuchian" origin of birds. (Some modern sources indicate incorrectly that Aetosaurus is derived from Latin aetas "age" and supposely means "old lizard," and thus would be pronounced "EE-to-SAWR-us." However, as quoted above, Oskar Fraas provided an etymology and an explanation. The name was once spelled with a dieresis as Aëtosaurus, to indicate the separate syllables, but the International Code for Zoological Nomenclature no longer permits the use of diacritical marks in the spelling of zoological names.) Stegonolepididae L. Trias. Eur. ?NA.
Argentinosuchus Casamiquela 1960 "Argentine crocodile"
ahr-jen-TEEN-o-SOOK-us (Argentina + Gr. soukhos "crocodile") (m) named for Argentina, where the fossil was found in San Juan Province. Stegonolepididae L. Trias. SA.
Calyptosuchus Long & Ballew 1985 "covered crocodile"
ka-LIP-to-SOOK-us (Gr. kalyptos "covered" + Gr. soukhos "crocodile") (m) named for the armor covering its back. Stegonolepididae L. Trias. NA. [= Stagonolepis]
Desmatosuchus Case 1920 "link crocodile"
des-MAT-o-SOOK-us (t.L.m.: DES-ma-to-SOOK-us) (Gr. desmat- (desma) "binding, chain" + Gr. soukhos "crocodile") (m) alluding to the supposed transitional character of the skull, "the characteristic portion of the holotype," which appeared to link phytosaurs to some other type of reptile. According to Case, the form's "phytosaur affinities are beyond question, but whether it is to be regarded as a more primitive type retaining characters of the primitive single-arched reptiles and placed near the origin of the Parasuchia, or a specialization of a more advanced type, remains to be determined." Case was unsure at first if the vertebrae and unusual dorsal armor found with the type skull actually belonged to the same kind of animal, and did not designate them as part of the original holotype in his short 1920 description. He later revised his opinion, however, and attributed the armor to Desmatosuchus in his detailed 1922 description. The genus is now recognized as an armored aetosaur, a group distinct from phytosaurs. Stegonolepididae L. Trias. NA.
Dyoplax O. Fraas 1867 "double plate"
DIE-o-plaks (Gr. dyo "two" + Gr. plax "flat plate") (f) named for the double row of armored plates over its back. Perhaps a protosuchid (Crocodylia), unrelated to aetosaurs. ?Stegonolepididae L. Trias. Eur.
Ebrachosaurus Kuhn 1936 "Ebrach (Germany) lizard"
EB-rahk-o-SAWR-us (Ebrach (Germany) + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for Ebrach, a town in the Franconia region of central Germany, near where the fossil was found. Stegonolepididae L. Trias. Eur. [nomen dubium]
Episcoposaurus Cope 1888 "guardian lizard"
e-PIS-ko-po-SAWR-us (Gr. episkopos "guardian, protector" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) perhaps so-named because a guardian might wear armor [= Typothorax]
Hoplitosaurus von Huene 1938 "shield-carrier lizard"
ho-PLIE-to-SAWR-us (Gr. hoplites "armed foot-soldier, shield [hoplon] carrier" + Gr.sauros "lizard") (m) named for its armor. (Preoccupied by Hoplitosaurus Lucas 1902. See Hoplitosuchus)
Hoplitosuchus von Huene 1938 "shield-carrier crocodile"
ho-PLIE-to-SOOK-us (Gr. hoplites "armed foot-soldier, shield [hoplon] carrier" + Gr. soukhos "crocodile") (m) named for its armor, to replace preoccupied Hoplitosaurus von Huene. Stegonolepididae L. Trias. SA. [nomen dubium]
Longosuchus Hunt & Lucas 1990 "Long's crocodile"
LONG-o-SOOK-us ((R. A.) Long + Gr. soukhos "crocodile") (m) named to honor Robert A. Long, American vertebrate paleontologist, specializing in the American Southwest; for "Typothorax" meadei Sawin. Stegonolepididae L. Trias. NA.
Lucasuchus Long & Murry 1995 "Lucas' crocodile"
LOO-ka-SOOK-us ((S.) Lucas + Gr. soukhos "crocodile") (m) named to honor Spencer Lucas, American vertebrate paleontologist, whose analysis of aetosaurian taxonomy and biochronology stimulated Long and Murry's research. Stegonolepididae L. Trias. NA.
Neoaetosauroides Bonaparte 1969 "new-Aetosauroides"
NEE-oh-ay-ET-o-saw-ROI-deez (t.L.m.: NEE-oh-AY-e-to-SAWR-o-IE-deez) (Gr. neos "new" + Aetosauroides) (m) named to indicate a possible descendant in the Los Colorados Formation of the Aetosauroides from the earlier Ischigualasto Formation in southern Argentina. Stegonolepididae L. Trias. SA.
Paratypothorax Long & Ballew 1985 "near-Typothorax"
PAR-a-TIE-po-THOHR-aks (Gr. para "near" + Typothorax (Gr. typos "mark made by a blow" + Gr. thorax "armor covering the chest; breastplate")) (m) named "in reference to the similarity of this genus to Typothorax"; proposed for specimens of broad dorsal armor, marked by ridges and bumps, first found in southern Germany and misattributed to a phytosaur ("Belodon" kapffi) by von Meyer and later authors. Stegonolepididae L. Trias. Eur. NA.
Redondasuchus Hunt & Lucas 1991 "Redonda Formation crocodile"
ray-DON-da-SOOK-us (Redonda (New Mexico) + Gr. soukhos "crocodile") (m) named for the Redonda Formation, east central New Mexico, where the fossil was found. Stegonolepididae L. Trias. NA.
Stagonolepis Agassiz 1844 "pitted scale"
stag-o-NOL-e-pis (c.u.: sta-GON-o-LEEP-is) (Gr. stagon- (stagon) "a drop" + Gr. lepis "scale") (f) named for the drop-shaped pits on its armor. The type specimen was originally mistaken for the scale of a large ganoid fish, probably because until the 1860s the Elgin sandstones in Britain were widely thought to be Devonian, not Triassic, in age. T. Huxley first identified the form as a reptile in 1859. Stegonolepididae M. Trias. Eur., L. Trias. NA.
Stegomus Marsh 1896 "plated shoulder"
ste-GOH-mus (Gr. stego "cover" + Gr. omos "humerus, shoulder") (m) referring to the plate-like dermal armor covering its back and neck, preserved as an impression in sandstone in the type specimen. Recent research with additional specimens suggests that the genus is a junior synonym of Aetosaurus, but would be distinguished at a species level as A. arcuatus "curved" from the European type species (Aetosaurus ferratus "iron-clad") by weaker sculpting on the armored scutes. Stegonolepididae L. Trias. NA. [= ?Aetosaurus]
Typothorax Cope 1875 "pitted armor"
tie-po-THOHR-aks (Gr. typos "mark made by a blow" + Gr. thorax "armor covering the chest; breastplate") (m) named for the texture of its bony armor. Cope says: "The flat and regularly pitted dermal bones distinguish this genus from Belodon." Cope's comparison with Belodon refers to a specimen of broad dorsal armor that von Meyer thought belonged to the phytosaur genus--the armor, found in southern Germany and characterized by ridges, keels and bumps instead of pits, is now attributed to the wide-bodied aetosaur Paratypothorax (see above). Cope's type species name T. coccinarum kok-si-NAHR-um [feminine genitive plural of Latin coccinus "scarlet"] is short for margarum coccinarum "of the red marls," to refer to the deposit where the fossils were first found in New Mexico. Stegonolepididae L. Trias. NA.