Pronunciation: en-IG-mo-SOR-us
Meaning: Enigmatic lizard
Author/s: Barsbold (1983)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Ömnögovi, Mongolia
Acta Ordinal: #302
Enigmosaurus mongoliensis
(Enigmatic Lizard from Mongolia)Etymology
Enigmosaurus is derived from the Greek "ainigma" (enigmatic, mysterious) and "sauros" (lizard), due to its weird pelvis.
The species epithet, mongoliensis, means "from Mongolia" in Latin.
Discovery
The remains of Enigmosaurus were discovered in the Baynshire Formation (called Baynshirenskaya Svita by Barsbold in 1983, and referred to as Bayan Shire, Bayan Shireh, Baynshire Svita, Bayan Shireh Svita, Bayan Shiren Svita, Bayanshiree Svita, by other folk at various times) at Khara Khutul, Ömnögovi (Southern Gobi) Aimag (Province), Mongolia, during a Soviet-Mongolian expedition in 1979.
The holotype (PST GIN AN MNP 100/84) is most of a pelvic girdle.
Although well preserved, parts of it are abnormal, showing signs of bone disease, injury, or age-related wear, which might be making some of its "unique" features look more extreme than they really were.
A number of other fragmentary elements not mentioned in the original description of
the holotype, are labelled with the same specimen number, including the crushed end of a thigh, the shaft of a more massive thigh, ribs, a partial upper arm, and pieces of both bones from a lower arm, that are all in poor condition. While most elements might reasonably pertain to the holotype individual, the larger thigh bone clearly does not.
