Pronunciation: MET-ree-uh-KAN-tho-SOR-us
Meaning: Moderately-spined lizard
Author/s: Walker (1964)
Synonyms: See below
First Discovery: Weymouth, England
Discovery Chart Position: #213
Metriacanthosaurus parkeri
In 1923, German Paleontologist Friedrich von Huene wrote a paper on European carnivorous dinosaurs and surprised absolutely no-one when he examined an incomplete hip, a leg bone, and part of a backbone, and announced a new species of Megalosaurus: Megalosaurus parkeri. He did that a lot. What he also did a lot, was re-examine his previously coined dinosaurs and assign them new names, and in 1932 Megalosaurus parkeri became Altispinax parkeri (Parker's high-spined one), even though the typical Altispinax high spines were conspicuous by their absence.
In 1964, Alick Walker realised these fossils were nothing like Megalosaurus or Altispinax (which has since been renamed Becklespinax but might be Altispinax again) and gave them an all new name: Metriacanthosaurus, the "moderately-spined lizard", in reference to its taller-than-typically short carnosaur spines but shorter than typically high spinosaurid spines.
(Parker's Moderate-Spined Lizard)Etymology
Metriacanthosaurus is derived from the Greek "metrikos" (moderate), "akantha" (spine) and "sauros" (lizard) because of the medium length spines on its backbone.
The species epithet, parkeri, honors W. Parker. Megalosaurus parkeri (von Huene, 1923).
Altispinax parkeri (von Huene, 1923).
Discovery
The remains of Metriacanthosaurus were discovered in the upper Oxford Clay Formation at Jordan's Cliff, Overcombe, Nr. Weymouth, Dorset, England, by W. Parker sometime in the 19th century. The holotype (OUM J.12144) consists of an incomplete hip, a leg bone, and part vertebrae from the back and tail.
