Pronunciation: thee-co-DON-to-SOR-us
Meaning: Socket-toothed lizard
Author/s: Riley and Stuchbury (1836)
Synonyms: Agrosaurus
First Discovery: Bristol, England
Discovery Chart Position: #4
(Morris, 1843)Thecodontosaurus antiquus
Thecodontosaurus antiquus is a very primitive English non-sauropod sauropodomorph, so ancient it's positively antique. Unfortunately, age counts for nothing during the throes of war and when the Luftwaffe bombed Bristol for the umpteenth time during WWII, despite cunning Mendip Hill's decoys, it was presumed blown to hell and gone, along with the geology wing of the museum in which it was stored. But you can't keep a good sauropodomorph down. Miraculously, workers salvaged one hundred and eighty-four specimens, though a holotype jaw wasn't among them. But when Galton nominated a new jaw as neotype in 1985 and Benton et al. described the bits that were left in 2000, they ensured that the history of its convoluted classification lived on.
When Riley and Stutchbury announced Thecodontosaurus in 1834 and provided something resembling an adequate list of its features two years later, it became the fifth dinosaur to be identified as such (behind Megalosaurus, Iguanodon, Streptospondylus and Hylaeosaurus), the first dinosaur reported from the Triassic, and the first sauropodomorph to be scientifically described. But no one knew any of that at the time. Owen didn't coin "Dinosauria" until 1841 and, strictly speaking, Thecodontosaurus anntiquus didn't become official until Morris added the epithet 1843. Moreover, Thecodontosaurus was considered a member of Squamata until 1870 when its dinosaurian affinities were realised by Thomas Huxley [*] who assigned it to Scelidosauridae along with Hylaeosaurus, Polacanthus and Acanthopolis to separate it from fellow Durdham Down "dinosaurs" Paleosaurus cylindrodon and its sidekick P. platyodon. To make a long story short; despite fueling many heated debates during the 20th Century, Palaeosaurus, Paleosaurus and its "Paleosauria" were all man-made inventions, a hotch potch of herbivore bones and archosaur teeth cobbled together to make carnivorous sauropodomorphs willy nilly. Thecodontosaurus now owns all of the Durdham Down dinosaur bones, but it took years of MacGuyver-like writing missions to claim them back.
When Riley and Stutchbury announced Thecodontosaurus in 1834 and provided something resembling an adequate list of its features two years later, it became the fifth dinosaur to be identified as such (behind Megalosaurus, Iguanodon, Streptospondylus and Hylaeosaurus), the first dinosaur reported from the Triassic, and the first sauropodomorph to be scientifically described. But no one knew any of that at the time. Owen didn't coin "Dinosauria" until 1841 and, strictly speaking, Thecodontosaurus anntiquus didn't become official until Morris added the epithet 1843. Moreover, Thecodontosaurus was considered a member of Squamata until 1870 when its dinosaurian affinities were realised by Thomas Huxley [*] who assigned it to Scelidosauridae along with Hylaeosaurus, Polacanthus and Acanthopolis to separate it from fellow Durdham Down "dinosaurs" Paleosaurus cylindrodon and its sidekick P. platyodon. To make a long story short; despite fueling many heated debates during the 20th Century, Palaeosaurus, Paleosaurus and its "Paleosauria" were all man-made inventions, a hotch potch of herbivore bones and archosaur teeth cobbled together to make carnivorous sauropodomorphs willy nilly. Thecodontosaurus now owns all of the Durdham Down dinosaur bones, but it took years of MacGuyver-like writing missions to claim them back.
(Ancient socket-toothed lizard)Etymology
Thecodontosaurus is derived from the Greek "theke" (socket or sheath), "odont" (tooth) and "sauros" (lizard)[*], because its teeth were embedded in distinct sockets, similar in style to modern monitor lizards.
The species epithet, antiquis, meaning "ancient" in Latin, was coined in 1843 by John Morris[*].
Discovery
The first remains of Thecodontosaurus were discovered by Riley and Stutchbury in the limestone quarries
of Durdham Down, Quarry Steps, Magnesian Conglomerate Formation, Clifton, Bristol, England, in 1834. At this point in time, Clifton was part of Gloucestershire, but it was incorporated into the Somerset city of Bristol in the 1930s.
The holotype (BCM 1836) is a lower jaw with 21 teeth that was destroyed in the "Bristol fires" caused by German bombing raids in WWII.
