Diodorus (genus)

Diodorus (genus)


Diodorus
Temporal range: Late Triassic, Carnian–Norian
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Branch: Dinosauromorpha
Branch: Dinosauriformes
Family: Silesauridae
Genus: Diodorus
Kammerer, Nesbitt, & Shubin, 2011
Species
  • D. scytobrachion Kammerer, Nesbitt, & Shubin, 2011 (type)

Diodorus is a genus of silesaurid dinosauriform (a relative to basal dinosaurs) from the The Late Triassic (?Carnian - Norian) Timezgadiouine Formation of the Argana Basin of Morocco. It is named after Diodorus, a legendary king of the Berber people and son of Sufax, the founder of Tangier and also in honour of Diodorus Siculus, a 1st century Greek historian who wrote about North Africa. The specific epithet, scytobrachion, is ancient Greek for "leather armed", but also honors Dionysius Scytobrachion, a mythographer who chronicled the mythical history of North Africa. The holotype and all referred remains were found in a single quarry at the base of the Irohalene Mudstone Member of the Timezgadiouine Formation in the northeastern Argana Basin, 2.9 kilometres (1.8 mi) east of Imziln, Morocco. Diodorus can be distinguished from other silesaurids by the presence of anteriorly-canted teeth that decrease in size towards the anterior end of the dentary and a distinct lateral ridge running parallel to the dentary alveolar margin. In a phylogenetic analysis, Diodorus was found to be the sister taxon to the Brazilian silesaurid Sacisaurus.[1]

References

  1. ^ Christian F. Kammerer, Sterling J. Nesbitt, and Neil H. Shubin (2011) The first basal dinosauriform (Silesauridae) from the Late Triassic of Morocco. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica (in press) doi:10.4202/app.2011.0015 [1]
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