a ceratosaurian theropod dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of Morocco.
Pronunciation: BUHR-buh-SOR-us
Meaning: Berber lizard
Author/s: Allain
et al. (
2007)
Synonyms: Berbesaurus (Torices et al. 2012)
First Discovery: Ouarzazate Province, Morocco
Discovery Chart Position: #611
Berberosaurus liassicus
(Berber Lizard from the Lias)Etymology
Berberosaurus is derived from "berber" (for the Berber people of Morocco) and the Greek "sauros" (lizard).
The
species epithet,
liassicus, refers to the Lias rock strata.
Discovery
The remains of
Berberosaurus were discovered in the Azilal Formation (Toundoute Continental Series) at "locality B", Douar of Tazouda, near
the village of Toundoute, Ouarzazate Province,
High Atlas of Morocco, by a team of scientists from North Africa, France, Switzerland and the United States during the early 2000s, as part of the "DnoAtlas" project.
The
holotype is a neck vertebra (MHNM-Pt9), the bottom end of a right shin (MHNM-Pt16), a right thigh (MHNM-Pt19), a left calf (MHNM-Pt20), the top end of a left shin (MHNM-Pt21), a hand bone (MHNM-Pt22), and a partial block of hip vertebrae called the sacrum (MHNM-Pt23). Part of a second right thigh (MHNM-To1-218) was also referred to
Berberosaurus.
Preparators
R. Vacant and P. Richir.
• Jenny J, Jenny-Deshusses C, Le Marrec A and Taquet P (1980) "Découverte d'ossements de Dinosauriens dans le Jurassique inférieur (Toarcien) du Haut Atlas central (Maroc)" [
Discovery of dinosaur bones in the Lower Jurassic (Toarcian) of the central High Atlas (Morocco)].
Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, Série D, 290(1): 839–842.
• Paul GS (1988) "
Predatory Dinosaurs of the World".
• Tykoski RB and Rowe T (2004) "Ceratosauria". Page 47–70 in Weishampel, Dodson and Osmólska (eds.) "
The Dinosauria: Second Edition".
• Allain R, Tykoski RB, Aquesbi N, Jalil N-E, Monbaron M, Russell D and Taquet P (2007) "
A basal abelisauroid from the late Early Jurassic of the High Atlas Mountains, Morocco, and the radiation of ceratosaurs".
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 27(3): 610–624. DOI: 10.1671/0272-4634(2007)27[610:AADTFT]2.0.CO;2.
• Paul GS (2016) "
The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs: Second Edition".
• Molina-Pérez R and Larramendi A (2016) "
Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: The Theropods" [aka Dinosaur Facts and Figures: The Theropods and other Dinosauriformes.]
Time stands still for no man, and research is ongoing. If you spot an error, or want to expand, edit or add a dinosaur, please use
this form. Go
here to contribute to our FAQ.
All dinos are GM free, and no herbivores were eaten during site construction!
To cite this page:
Atkinson, L.
"
BERBEROSAURUS :: from DinoChecker's dinosaur archive".
‹
http://www.dinochecker.com/dinosaurs/BERBEROSAURUS›. Web access: 06th Mar 2026.
