Pronunciation: os-MAH-kuh-SOR-us
Meaning: Canyon lizard
Author/s: McDonald (2011)
Synonyms: See below
First Discovery: South Dakota, USA
Discovery Chart Position: #754
Osmakasaurus depressus
Along with Cumnoria and Uteodon, Osmakasaurus (via a stint as Planicoxa depressa) was coined by Andrew McDonald in 2011 during his overhaul of species previously assigned to Camptosaurus. But some palaeontologists won't let go, and still believe its remains belong to Iguanodon lakotaensis... which was renamed Dakotadon by Greg Paul in 2008.
(Depressed Canyon Lizard)
Etymology
Osmakasaurus is derived from "ósmaka" (meaning "canyon" in the language of the Lakota People, inhabitants of Calico Canyon in western South Dakota where the fossils were found) and the Greek "sauros" (lizard). The species epithet, depressus, was coined by Gilmore in 1909 when its remains were known as Camptosaurus depressus, and refers to the "narrowness or depressed nature of the ilia". Funnily enough, only the left side of the ilia, the uppermost and largest bone of the hip, is depressed, and this was probably caused by compressive forces during fossilization.
Camptosaurus depressus (Gilmore, 1909)?Camptosaurus depressus (Norman, 2004)
Planicoxa depressa (Carpenter and Wilson, 2008)
Discovery
The fossils now known as Osmakasaurus were discovered at Calico Canyon in the Chilson Member of the Lakota Formation near Buffalo Gap, Custer County, South Dakota, USA, by Nelson Horatio Darton in 1896. The holotype (USNM 4753) is a partial skeleton.
