Pronunciation: KAL-eh-tow-DRAH-ko
Meaning: Caleti dragon
Author/s: Buffetaut et al. (2024)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Normandy, France
Discovery Chart Position: #1139
Caletodraco cottardi
(Cottard's Caleti Dragon)Etymology
Caletodraco is derived from "Caleti" (aka "Caletes", literally "the stubborn ones": a Celtic tribe that inhabited the Pays de Caux plateau of Normandy during the Iron Age) and the Latin "draco" (dragon).
The species epithet, cottardi (coh-TAR-dee), honours Mr Nicolas Cottard, who discovered the specimen in the course of his systematic research on the stratigraphy and palaeontology of the Chalk of Normandy and donated it to the Muséum d’histoire naturelle du Havre.
Discovery
The remains of Caletodraco were discovered at the foot of the sea cliffs at Saint-Jouin-Bruneval, on the coast of the Pays de Caux, in the department of Seine-Maritime, Normandy, France, by Nicolas Cottard. The fossils were found in two chalk blocks: the first in 2021 and the second in 2023, but the bones fit well together, with only minor loss of bony substance between them.The holotype (MHNH 2024.1.1.1/2) is a sacrum (a block of fused hip vertebrae), both ilia (hip bones), a tail vertebra and various poorly preserved bones, possibly ribs. An isolated abelisaurid tooth was found next to the pelvis, which is a strange place for a tooth to be. It might belong to the specimen or, more likely, a scavenger.
