Pronunciation: KRIP-to-SOR-us
Meaning: Hidden lizard
Author/s: Seeley (1869)
Synonyms: Cryptodraco (Lydekker, 1889)
First Discovery: Cambridgeshire, England
Discovery Chart Position: #28
Cryptosaurus eumerus
(Hidden Lizard with a Well-Formed Thigh)Etymology
Cryptosaurus is derived from the Greek "kryptos" (hidden) in reference to its rarity (Seeley: "the only example of a Dinosaurian genus from the Oxford Clay which has a general affinity with Iguanodon"), and the Greek "sauros" (lizard).
The species epithet, eumerus, means "well-formed thigh" in Greek, in reference to the stout build of the bone.
Discovery
The remains of Cryptosaurus were discovered in the Ampthill Clay Formation at Great Gransden brick pit, Cambridgeshire, England, by Lucas Ewbank.The holotype (OUM J.46882) is a "one foot one inch femur".
