"Liassaurus" is the informal name given to an as yet undescribed genus of dinosaur from the Early Jurassic. It was a probable ceratosaur which lived in what is now Europe. The type species, "L. huenei", was coined by Welles, H.P. Powell, and Stephan Pickering in 1995 and was approximately 6 meters long.
The name "Liassaurus" comes from "Lias", another name for the Early Jurassic, a fitting name for this animal, which lived around 200 million years ago, during the Sinemurian stage. Although mentioned in papers as far back as 1995, "Liassaurus" has never been formally described; it is thus a nomen nudum. The species name honors well-known paleontologist Friedrich von Huene. "Liassaurus" may in fact be the same animal as Sarcosaurus.
References[]
- Dinosaur Mailing List entry (mentions "Liassaurus" briefly)
- Description of Liassaurus (in German)
- Theropoda from Thescelosaurus
