Pronunciation: STELL-uh-SOR-us
Meaning: Star lizard
Author/s: Wilson et al. (2020)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Montana, USA
Discovery Chart Position: #1021
Stellasaurus ancellae
(Ancell's star lizard)Etymology
Stellasaurus is derived from the Latin "Stella" (star) and the Greek "sauros" (lizard), referring to the overall star-like appearance of the ornamentation on its skull, and in homage to the song "Starman" by David Bowie.
The species epithet, ancellae, honours Museum of the Rockies field palaeontologist and fossil preparator Carrie Ancell, who discovered and prepared the holotype specimens of Stellasaurus ancellae and Achelousaurus horneri, co-discovered the holotype of Einiosaurus procurvicornis, and whose decades of extraordinary fossil preparation have furthered vertebrate palaeontology beyond measure.
Discovery
The remains of Stellasaurus were discovered in the uppermost Two Medicine Formation at Landslide Butte, adjacent to the US/Canadian border and 40 km northwest of the town of Cut Bank, Montana, by Carrie Ancell in 1986.The holotype (MOR 492) is an isolated partial skull that was referred, by McDonald and Horner in 2010, to Styracosaurus ovatus.... which was renamed Rubeosaurus by the same authors just three sentences later!
