sauro-, saur-, -saurus, -saurid, -saur, -sauria, -saurian

A “Luciano Mesa lizard” from Late Triassic Luciano Mesa, New Mexico. Named by Adrian Paul Hunt and Frederic Augustus Lucas (1852-1929) in 1994.

A “Luetken’s lizard” from Late Cretaceous Eastern Europe. It was named in honor of Christian Frederich Luetken (1827-1901), Danish zoologist and paleontologist. Named by W. Kiprijanoff in 1883.

A “Lufeng lizard” from Early Jurassic China. The name is based on the Lufeng Basin, Yunnan Province, China, where the fossil was found. Named by Chinese paleontologist Yang Zhong-jian (also known as: Chung Chien Young) in 1941.

A “Lu-kou Bridge lizard” from Early Jurassic southern China. The name refers to the famous Lokou Bridge in the vicinity of Peiping (Beijing) where the Sino-Japanese war was started and which has remained as a symbol of the struggle against the Japanese invasion. The fossil was found in the Lufeng Basin, Yunnan Province, China. Named by Chinese paleontologist Yang Zhong-jian (also known as: Chung Chien Young) in 1948.

A “heavy lizard” from Early Cretaceous Niger, West Africa. The name comes from Late Latin, lurdus, “heavy”. Named by Philippe Taquet and D. A. Russell in 1999.

A “Lusitania lizard” from Early Jurassic Portugal (once called Lusitania, a Latin name for Portugal). Named by A. F. de Lapparent and G. Zyszewski in 1957.

A “Jute lizard” from Early Cretaceous Isle of Wight. This fossil was named for the Jutes, a Germanic people who invaded the Isle of Wight during the sixth century A.D.

A heavily-built quadrupedal, Early Triassic reptile. Several Lystrosaurus fossils were found in Antarctica, Asia, and South Africa. Named by Edward Drinker Cope in 1870.

A “long-tailed lizard” from Early Cretaceous (near) Cambridge, England. British paleontologist Harry Govier Seeley (1839-1909) in 1869.

This nomenclature (“large lizard”) is no longer recognized by scientists because they found that it described an animal that was previously given another name which is Megalosaurus. Named by German paleontologist Friedrich von Huene in 1932.

This nomenclature (“Magyar lizard” [named for the Magyar, the main ehnic group in Hungary]) is no longer recognized by scientists because they found that it described an animal that was previously given another name which is Titanosaurus. Named by German paleontologist Friedrich von Huene in 1932.

Means “good-mother lizard” from Late Cretaceous Montana and other areas of North America. A reference to evidence of possible extended parental care given the young when fifteen babies were found in a fossil nest, suggesting that food must have been brought to them. Named by U. S. paleontologists John R. Horner and Robert Makela in 1979.

“Majunga lizard” from Late Cretaceous rocks in the Majunga desert in northwest Madagascar and perhaps also in Egypt. Named by Rene Lavocat in 1955.

“Malawi lizard” from Early Cretaceous Malawi, Africa. It was discovered by Dr. Louis Jacobs. Named by Louis L. Jacobs, Dale A. Winkler, William R. Downs, and Elizabeth M. Gomani in 1993.

“Maleev’s lizard” from Late Cretaceous Mongolia. It was named in honor of Evgenii Aleksandrovich Maleev (1915-1966), a Russian paleontologist who described the specimen as “Gorgosaurus” novojilovi in 195
5. Named by Kenneth Carpenter (Denver Museum of Natural History) in 1992.