Pronunciation: AHR-can-SOR-us
Meaning: Arkansas lizard
Author/s: Hunt and Quinn (2018)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Arkansas, North America
Discovery Chart Position: #982
Arkansaurus fridayi
One day, Joe B. Friday was looking for a lost cow on his land in Lockesburg, part of which had been churned up by crews who were digging tracts for a new road in 1972, when he noticed some long fossilised toes poking out of the ground. Those bones turned out to represent the first and only saurischian known from Arkansas, so it was a shoo-in as their official state dinosaur after being Christened "Arkansaurus fridayi" by James Harrison Quinn. However, their official state dinosaur wouldn't actually be official until it was officially described in a scientific journal. Thankfully, Hunt and Quinn obliged in 2018, almost five decades after its discovery, and Arkansas rejoiced.
(Friday's Arkansas lizard))Etymology
Arkansaurus is derived from "Arkansas" (USA's 24th State where its remains were discovered) and the Greek "sauros" (lizard).
The species epithet, fridayi, honors discoverer Joe Friday. ZooBank registry: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:B541B7AB-E44D-423F-B499-0166DE78679A.
Discovery
The remains of Arkansaurus were discovered in the Trinity Group at Lockesburg, Sevier County, southwest Arkansas, USA, by Joe B. Friday in 1972.The holotype (Ref?) is a nearly complete right foot.
