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

A “brave (fearless, valiant) lizard” from Early Cretaceous Sahara Desert of Niger, North Africa. The term ourane in Niger dialect means “fearless or valiant”. From a name used for the desert monitor (Varanus griseus) by the Tuareg tribe of Niger. The fossils were found in the Gadoufaouna deposits, southwest of Elrahz. Named by Philippe Taquet in 1976.

These “boneheads” were strange bipeds with thick skulls. These might have served as crash-helmets to protect the brain when rival males banged heads.

A “thick-headed lizard” from Late Cretaceous Montana. Named by paleontologist Barnum Brown (1873-1963) and Schlaikjer in 1943.

A “thick-rib lizard” from Middle Jurassic Europe. Named by David Martill and Sibylle Noe in 1996.

A “thick-nosed lizard” from Late Cretaceous Alberta, Canada; and Alaska. Named by U. S. fossil hunter Charles Mortram Sternberg (1885-1981) in 1950.

This nomenclature (“thick lizard”) is no longer recognized by scientists because they found that it described an animal that was previously given another name which is Plateosaurus. Named by German paleontologist Friedrich von Huene, 1908 or L. J. Fitzinger, in 1843 (?).

Meaning “old (ancient) lizard ancestor” from Late Triassic Bristol, England. This creature was previously known as Palaeosaurus. Named by Oskar Kuhn in 1959.

This nomenclature (“ancient lizard”) is no longer recognized by scientists because they found that it described an animal that was previously given another name which is Palaeosauriscus. Named by S. H. Riley and Samuel Stutchbury, 1836/Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1833.

Means “fully (completely)-armored lizard” from Late Cretaceous Alberta, Canada to Texas and Montana, USA. This creature was formerly called an Edmontonia. Named by Canadian paleontologist Lawrence M. Lambe in 1919.

Means “all lizard” from Late Jurassic North America. Named by Othniel Charles Marsh (1831-1899) in 1893.

Means “beside-ridged lizard” from Late Cretaceous New Mexico, Utah, and Alberta, Canada. Named by William Arthur Parks in 1922.

Means “near lizard” from Late Jurassic North America. Named by Othniel Charles Marsh (1831-1899) in 1893.

Named by British anatomist Sir Richard Owen in 1876.

Meaning “Parks’ lizard” from Late Cretaceous Montana and Alberta, Canada. Named for William Arthur Parks (1868-1939), a Canadian paleontologist. Named by U. S. fossil hunter Charles Mortram Sternberg (1885-1981) in 1937.

This nomenclature (“Parr’s lizard” in honor of Albert Eide Parr, an American zoologist) is no longer recognized by scientists because they found that it described an animal that was previously given another name which is Hypsibema or Hadrosaurus. Named by U. S. paleontologist Charles Whitney Gilmore in 1945.