sauro-, saur-, -saurus, -saurid, -saur,
-sauria, -saurian +

An Ichthyosaur that lived during Middle Triassic Asia, Europe, North America, and South America.

It was not a dinosaur but another type of extinct reptile.

“Mongolian lizard” from Late Cretaceous Inner Mongolia. Another source says it is from the Early Cretaceous period. Named by U. S. paleontologist Charles Whitney Gilmore in 1933.

A “Monko lizard” from Late Jurassic or Early Cretaceous Tibet. Named for Monko County in eastern Tibet, where the fossil was found. Named by Chinese paleontologist Zhiming Dong in 1990, but he attributed the name to Zijin Zhao.

A “single-crested lizard” from Middle (or Late) Jurassic North West China. From Greek monos, “one” plus lophos, “crest”; referring to the single crest on the midline of the skull roof of a medium-sized carnivorous dinosaur. Formerly referred to as Jiangjunmiaosaurus. Named by Chinese paleontologist Xijin Zhao and Canadian paleontologist Philip J. Currie in 1994.

A “Moreno lizard” from Late Cretaceous North America. Its name comes from Anglicized Spanish moreno, “brown”. It is named for the Moreno Formation, Maastrichtian, of the Panoche Hills, Fresno County, California. Named by U. S. paleontologist Samuel Paul Welles in 1943.

This nomenclature (“Morini lizard” [an ancient people of northern France]) is no longer recognized by scientists because they found that it described an animal that was previously given another name which is Pelorosaurus. Named by H. E. Sauvage in 1874.

A “stupid lizard” referring to the small size of the brain compared to the huge size of the body in sauropods. Now known as Camarasaurus. Named by Othniel Charles Marsh (1831-1899) in 1878.

A “Meuse lizard”, named for the Meuse River in Holland where they were first located. They are believed to have lived during the Late Cretaceous period. The first Mosasaur was found in the Netherlands in 1780.

A giant, meat-eating marine reptile, not a dinosaur, that lived during the Late Cretaceous period and one was found in Onion Creek, Texas. It was found in 1934 by a University of Texas geology student, Clyde Ikins. The first Mosasaur was found in the Netherlands in 1780 and named in 1822 by Wiliam Daniel Conybeare.

A “moray eel lizard” from Late Jurassic Europe (England and France) and maybe West Indies and South America. This fossil was named for the moray eel with reference to the reptile’s long neck, but it was not a dinosaur. Named by Harry Govier Seeley in 1874.

A hatchling prosauropod “mouse lizard” from Late Triassic Argentina. Named for its tiny size. Named by Argentinian paleontologist José Bonaparte and Martin Vince in 1979.

A “Muttaburra lizard” from Early Cretaceous Australia. This fossil was found close to the township of Muttaburra, central Queensland, Australia; near the fossil site Ornithopoda Iquanodontidae. Named by Alan Bartholomai and Ralph E. Molnar in 1981.

A “Naaskhoibito lizard” from Late Cretaceous New Mexico. Its name comes from Navajo na‘asho‘i, “lizard creek” and it was named for the Naashoibito Member of the Kirtland Formation, New Mexico. Named by Adrian Paul Hunt and Frederic Augustus Lucas (1852-1929) in 1993.


Is this a case of a dinosaur trying to defend its territory
against an intruder or is it just a misunderstanding?

A “dwarf (pygmy) lizard” from Late Jurassic Colorado and Utah (USA). Named by Othniel Charles Marsh (1831-1899) in 1877.

A “Nanshiung (Nanxiong) lizard” from Late Cretaceous China. It was named for the Nanxiong (Nanhsiung) Formation in Guangdong Province, China; where the fossil was found in the Nanxiong Basin. Named by Chinese paleontologist Zhiming Dong in 1979.