Dinosauria Translation and Pronunciation Guide L

Ben Creisler

Labocania Molnar 1974 "for La Bocana Roja"

lah-boh-KAHN-ee-a (Sp. bocana "island channel" + -ia) (f) named for the La Bocana Roja Formation, Baja California, Mexico, where the type specimen was found. Theropoda Carnosauria i.s. L. Cret. NA (Mexico)

Labrosaurus Marsh 1879 "greedy lizard"

LAB-ro-SAWR-us (Gr. labros "greedy, furious" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) new name proposed for Allosaurus lucaris (loo-KAR-is), a specimen of carnivorous dinosaur with internal cavities in its vertebrae; in 1884 Marsh identified an unusual partly toothless left dentary of an allosaur (now thought to be the result of injury or pathology) as belonging to Labrosaurus. [= Allosaurus]

Laelaps Cope 1866 "storm wind"

LEE-laps (Gr. lailaps "storm wind") (m) Named for a mythical hunting dog with the power to catch whatever it pursued--Zeus turned the original Laelaps to stone as it lept to catch a ravaging fox with the power to escape every pursuer (petrified at the same instant). Cope described Laelaps as a fierce kangaroo-like dinosaur that lept on its prey with eagle-like toe claws, thus the Latin type species name aquilunguis (a-kwi-LUHNG-gwis) "eagle-clawed." (The large compressed claws actually belonged to its forelimbs, a fact first noted by Marsh in 1884 after studying the manus of Allosaurus.) Cope also noted that: "The tail was moderately long, rounded, and not so much a support as capable of striking a blow and of throwing an enemy within reach of the kick or grab of the terrible hind limb." He also speculated that "the toes may have been partially webbed, and it is not improbable that the hind legs may have occasionally been most efficient propellers of these animals along the coast margins of the Cretaceous sea." Cope (1869) envisioned Laelaps as kind of super-predator: "If he were warm-blooded, as Prof. Owen supposes the Dinosauria to have been, he undoubtedly had more expression than his modern reptilian proto-types possess. He no doubt had the usual activity and vivacity which distinguishes the warm-blooded from the cold-blooded vertebrates. We can, then, with some basis of probability imagine our monster carrying his eighteen feet of length on a leap, at least thirty feet through the air, with hind feet read to strike his prey with fatal grasp, and his enormous weight to press it to the earth. Crocodiles and Gavials must have found their bony plates and ivory no safe defence, while the Hadrosaurus himself, if not too thick skinned, as in the Rhinoceros and its allies, furnished him with food, till some Dinosaurian jackalls dragged the refuse off to their swampy dens." (Preoccupied by Laelaps Koch 1839 (Acarina). See Dryptosaurus.) [= Dryptosaurus]

Laevisuchus von Huene 1932 "light crocodile"

LEE-vi-SOOK-us (for Lat. levis "light, swift" + Gr. soukhos "crocodile") (m) named for vertebrae supposedly indicating a small, lightly built coelurid. Theropoda i.s. L. Cret. Ind. [nomen dubium]

Lambeosaurus Parks 1923 "Lambe's lizard"

LAM-bee-o-SAWR-us (Lambe + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named to honor Lawrence Morris Lambe (1863-1919), Canadian vertebrate paleontologist, for the helmet-crested skulls Lambe had included in the incorrectly defined type specimen of Stephanosaurus in 1914: "In order to give Lambe all possible credit for their discovery and description the name Lambeosaurus lambei is herewith proposed." Ornithopoda Hadrosauridae Lambeosaurinae L. Cret. NA.

Lametasaurus Matley 1923 "Lameta (India) lizard"

luh-MAY-tuh-SAWR-us (Lameta + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for the Lameta Formation, Jabalpur, India. The original specimen included titanosaur armor, crocodile teeth and theropod material. Theropoda i.s. L. Cret. India [nomen dubium]

Lanasaurus Gow 1975 "wooly lizard"

LAY-na-SAWR-us (Lat. lana "wool" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named "for Professor A. W. 'Fuzz' Compton who initiated the Redbed collecting programme of the 1960s and has himself collected most of the good heterodontosaurid material found to date."

(The nickname "Fuzz" refers to his bushy hair.) [= Lycorhinus]

Laosaurus Marsh 1878 "fossil lizard"

LAY-o-SAWR-us (Gr. laos "stone" + Gr. sauros "lizard")* (m) named to indicate a small dinosaur found in a quarry at Como Bluff, Wyoming. Ornithopoda L. Jur. NA. [nomen dubium (in part Othnielia)]

Laplatasaurus von Huene 1927 "La Plata (Argentina) lizard"

lah-PLAHT-a-SAWR-us (La Plata + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for La Plata, Argentina, in the region where the fossil was found. Sauropoda Titanosauridae L. Cret. SA.

Lapparentosaurus Bonaparte 1986 "Lapparent's lizard"

la-pah-RENT-o-SAWR-us (A. de Lapparent + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named to honor Albert de Lapparent (1905--1975), noted French vertebrate paleontologist. Sauropoda Brachiosauridae M. Jur. Madagascar

Leaellynasaura Rich & Rich 1989 "Leaellyn's lizard"

lee-EL-in-a-SAWR-a (Leaellyn + Gr. saura "lizard" fem.) (f) named to honor Leaellyn Rich, "a Victorian schoolgirl who participated in the discovery," and the daughter of the describers. She once asked for a dinosaur of her own. Ornithopoda Hypsilophodontidae E. Cret. Aus.

Leipsanosaurus Nopcsa 1918 "remains lizard"

LIEP-san-o-SAWR-us (Gr. leipsanon "remainder, remains" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) alluding to the meager nature of the fossil, an isolated tooth. Ankylosauria Nodosauridae L. Cret. Eur. [nomen dubium]

Leptoceratops Brown 1914 "small horned face"

LEP-to-SER-a-tops (Gr. leptos "thin, slender, small" + Gr. kerat- (keras) "horn" + Gr. ops "face") (m) named to indicate "a diminutive Ceratopsian...The animal would have been not more than four feet in height, and the body was correspondingly short..." Ceratopsia Protoceratopidae L. Cret. NA.

Leptospondylus Owen 1854 "slender vertebrae"

LEP-to-SPON-di-lus (Gr. leptos "slender" + Gr. spondylos "vertebra") for a slender vertebra later identified as part of a Massospondylus skeleton. [= ?Massospondylus]

Lesothosaurus Galton 1978 "Lesotho (South Africa) lizard"

le-SOH-toh-SAWR-us (Lesotho + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for Lesotho, South Africa, where the fossil was found. Ornithopoda Lesothosauridae E. Jur. SAfr.

Lessemsaurus Bonaparte 1999 "Lessem's lizard"

LES-uhm-SAWR-us (Lessem + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named to honor Donald Lessem, author and journalist, and founder of the Dinosaur Society. Lessemsaurus is a large melanosaurid prosauropod known from a series of vertebrae (Holotype: PVL 4822-1 (Institudo-Fundacion Lillo)), found in the Late Triassic (Norian) Los Colorados Formation in southwest La Rioja Province, Argentina; notable for neural arches approximately twice as high as the centra, taller than in other known prosauropods. The neural arches on the neck vertebrae show a constriction below and behind the zygapophyses--a more developed form of this constriction is found in many later sauropods. Lessemsaurus was probably around 10m (33 ft) long.

Type Species: Lessemsaurus sauropoides [saw-ro-POY-deez] Bonaparte 1999: "sauropod-like": "to indicate that the morphology of its presacral vertebrae resembles that of primitive sauropods."

Prosauropoda Melanosauridae Late Triassic (Norian) SA

Lexovisaurus Hofstetter 1957 "Lexovian lizard"

lek-SOH-vi-SAWR-us (Lexovii, an ancient Celtic people of northern Gaul near the mouth of the Seine + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) alluding to where the fossil was found, near Lisieux in the Calavados region of Normandy, northwestern France, once inhabited by the Lexovii. Stegosauria Stegosauridae M. Jur. Eur.

Liaoningosaurus Xu, Wang & You 2001 "Liaoning (Province) lizard"

LYOW-ning-o-SAWR-us (Chin. Liaoning ("distant peace") + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for Liaoning Province in northwest China, where the fossil was found. Liaoningosaurus is an unusual ankylosaur known from a complete skeleton of a very young juvenile (about 34 cm (13.6 in) long) with some armor preserved (Holotype: IVPP V12560 (Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Beijing)), found in the Early Cretaceous (Barremian?) Yixian Formation at Wang Jiagou, Yixian County in Liaoning Province. Liaoningosaurus has a mix of features similar to those found in either ankylosaurids or nodosaurids, but differs from other known ankylosaurians in having shell-like armor on its belly, and a pes more than twice as long as the manus. The cheek teeth resemble those of nodosaurids and are very large for the skull size (a juvenile characteristic). The tail lacks a club or ossified tendons. The humerus and femur show a combination of nodosaurid and ankylosaurid features. The unguals on the feet are long and clawlike. The sub-triangular plates preserved near the should girdle appear to have been vertical. The flat armor plates on the belly are not known in other ankylosaurians and are sculpted with rhombic and hexagonal tubercles. The unusual combination of features found in Liaoningosaurus suggest it may represent a separate third lineage of ankylosaurians, though current analyses place it closest to the Nodosauridae.

Type Species: Liaoningosaurus paradoxocus [par-uh-DOK-si-kuhs] Xu, Wang & You 2001: "paradoxical"-- "for the surprising characteristics of the animal" Ankylosauria Nodosauridae? Early Cretaceous (Barremian?) China [added 8-2001]

Ligabueino Bonaparte 1996 "Ligabue's little one"

LEE-gah-BOO-ay-EE-noh ((G.) Ligabue + Italian dimin. suffix -ino) (m) named to honor Italian businessman and dinosaur scholar Dr. Giancarlo Ligabue, "who helps so much the knowledge of Patagonia through his beautifully illustrated book"; proposed for a small theropod probably about .74 m (30 in.) long with a femur 62 mm long; found in Neuquen Province, Patagonia, Argentina. Theropoda Ceratosauria Abelisauria ?Noasauridae E. Cret. AS.

Liliensternus Welles 1984 "for Lilienstern"

LIL-ee-en-SHTER-nus (m) named to honor Hugo Ruele von Lilienstern (1882-1946), German paleontologist; for Halticosaurus liliensterni von Huene 1934. Theropoda Ceratosauria Halticosauridae L. Trias. Eur.

Limnosaurus Nopsca 1899 "marsh lizard"

LIM-no-SAWR-us (Gr. limne "marsh, lake" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for its supposed swampy habits as a hadrosaur; preoccupied by Limnosaurus Marsh 1872. See Telmatosaurus. [= Telmatosaurus]

Lirainosaurus Sanz, Powell, Le Loeuff, Martinez & Pereda-Suberbiola 1999 "slender lizard"

lee-RIEN-o-SAWR-us (Basque lirain "slender" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) referring particularly to the slenderness of the limb bones (humerus, femur, tibia): "The femur is one of the most slender ones known among Sauropoda"; for a titanosaur found in the Basque region of north-central Spain in the Late Cretaceous (?Upper Campanian or Lower Maastrichtian) outcrop at Lano, Condado de Trevino, Alava Province. Lirainosaurus is a small titanosaur known from an anterior caudal vertebra (Holotype: (MCNA 7458 (Museo de Ciencias Naturales de Alava)), as well as incomplete remains of a number of adult and juveniles, including a skull fragment, isolated pencil-like teeth, dorsal and caudal vertebrae, a scapula, a coracoid, a sternal plate, humeri, femora, a tibia, a fibula, fragments of an ilium and a pubis, and 2 dermal scutes.

Type Species: Lirainosaurus astibiae [ah-STEE-bee-ee] Sanz, Powell, Le Loeuff, Martinez & Pereda-Suberbiola 1999: for Humberto Astibia, leader of the research at the outcrop of Lano. Sauropoda Titanosauria Late Cretaceous (Campanian (or ?Maastrichtian)) Eur. [added 2/2000]

Loncosaurus Ameghino 1898 "lonco (?) lizard"

LONG-ko-SAWR-us (? from Araucanian lonco "head, chief," commonly used in Chilean and Argentine geographical names; the allusion in this case is obscure; or perhaps an irregular latizination of Gr. lonkhos "lance" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) Originally described as a "megalosaurian" based on a slender tooth, the type specimen is now generally restricted to a portion of an ornithischian[/predentatan] femur. Ameghino also used the name "Loncornis," with an apparently similar derivation, for the femur of a "Cretaceous" bird supposedly from the same Guaranitica formation (but actually Oligocene in age). Ornithopoda L. Cret. SA. [nomen dubium]

Longosaurus Welles 1984 "Long's lizard"

LONG-o-SAWR-us (R. A. Long + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named to honor Robert A. Long, American paleontologist "who independently recognized the distinctness of this taxon [Coelophysis longicollis]" from Coelophysis. [= Coelophysis]

Lophorhothon Langston 1960 "crested nose"

LOF-o-ROH-thon (Gr. lophos "ridge or crest on the head" + Gr. rhothon "nose")* (m) named for an immature individual with a pyramidal crest on the nasals resembling the crest of Prosaurolophus but situated well forward of the orbits; possibly a juvenile Prosaurolophus. Ornithopoda Hadrosauridae Hadrosaurinae L. Cret. NA

Loricosaurus von Huene 1929 "cuirass lizard"

LOHR-ik-o-SAWR-us (Lat. lorica "leather cuirass" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for its armor, originally thought to be from an ankylosaur, but now attributed to an armored titanosaur. Sauropoda Titanosauridae L. Cret. SA. [nomen dubium]

Losillasaurus Casanovas, Santafe & Sanz 2001 "Losilla (Spain) lizard"

loh-SIL-yah-SAWR-us (Losilla + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for the town of Losilla, near where the fossils were found in Valencia Province, Spain. Losillasaurus is a very large (est. around 23 m (77 ft) long) diplodocid sauropod based on a partial skeleton including a skull fragment, vertebrae (cervical, dorsal, sacral and caudal), limb elements (humerus, ulna, radius, metacarpal) and pelvic elements (ilium, ischium, pubis) (Holotype: Lo-5 (caudal vertebra with procoelous centrum) (Museo de la Ciencia de Valencia after study at Institut de Paleontologica Miquel Crusafont, Sabadell, Spain)), found in the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous (Tithonian-Berriasian) boundary Collado Formation at La Canada, Barranco de Escaiz, Losilla, Aras de Alpuente, Valencia Province, Spain. Distinguished from other diplodocoid taxa by features of the vertebrae: bifurcated infraprezygopophyseal laminae on cervical and caudal vertebrae; laterally compressed, cutlass-shaped neural spines on anterior caudals; wing-shaped lateral processes on the first proximal caudals.

Type Species: Losillasaurus giganteus [ji-gan-TEE-us] Casanovas, Santafe & Sanz 2001: "gigantic," for its large size. Sauropoda Diplodocoidea Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous (Tithonian-Berriasian) Eur.

Lourinhanosaurus Mateus 1998 "Lourinha (Portugal) lizard"

loh-reen-YAH-no-SAWR-us (Lourinha + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named to indicate a theropod dinosaur found in the area of Lourinha in west-central Portugal (at Peralta). Holotype (ML370) in the Museum of Lourinha is an incomplete skeleton without a skull that includes vertebrae (cervical, dorsal, sacral and caudal (with chevrons)), the pelvis (two ilia, parts of pubes and ischia) and parts of the both femurs and a right tibia and fibula, plus a possible proximal end of one metatarsal. Based on features of the pelvis and hind limbs, Lourinhanosaurus may have been an allosauroid, possibly a sinraptorid--the pubis has a large opening (obturator foramen), similar to a notch in the pubis of Sinraptor. Unfortunately, the ends of the pubes are missing so it is not possible to tell if Lourinhanosaurus had the pubic "boot" typical of allosauroids. The entire animal was probably about 4 m. (14 ft.) long in life. Around 32 gastroliths or "stomach stones" were found in the rib cage region below the eleventh dorsal vertebra, the first observation of gastroliths associated with a large theropod since 8 to 10 stones were found with the ribs of Poekilopleuron in 1835.

Type Species: Lourinhanosaurus antunesi [ahn-TOO-nay-sie] Mateus 1998: for Prof. Miguel Telles Antunes, Portuguese paleontologist. Theropoda Carnosauria Allosauroidea (?Sinraptoridae) Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian-Tithonian) Eur. [added 5/99]

loh-REEN-yah-SAWR-us (Lourhina + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for the village of Lourhina in "the central-west region of Portugal (Lisbon district), abounding in remains of sauropod dinosaurs"; proposed for "Apatosaurus" alenquerensis Lapparent & Zbyszewski 1957. Based on three partial skeletons; the type specimen described in 1957 is a partial skeleton found at Alenquer, Portugal; a large partial skeleton was discovered in 1983 in the Lourinha Formation at Porto Dinheiro about 3.5 km from the village of Lourinha and included a tooth and about 100 gastroliths. The skull is not known. Diagnosed primarily on the distinctive form of the first seven dorsal vertebrae, which have relatively high, bifurcated neural spines; posterior cervicals have prominent longitudinal keels on the ventral face. Estimated to reach about 17 meters (57 feet) long. Classification is currently uncertain without a skull, but it may have resembled Camarasaurus, though differing in proportionately longer forelimbs (humerus about .84 as long as femur) and in the shape of the ischium.

Type Species: Lourinhasaurus alenquerensis [ah-LENG-ke-REN-sis] (Lapparent & Zbyszewski 1957) "from Alenquer, Portugal," where the original type material was found. Sauropoda i.s. Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian-Tithonian) Eur. [entry added 4-99]

Lucianosaurus Hunt & Lucas 1994 "Luciano Mesa lizard"

loo-see-AN-o-SAWR-us (Luciano + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for Luciano Mesa, New Mexico, "which is close to the locality that yielded the holotype" teeth; based on possibly undiagnostic isolated teeth. Ornithischia[/Predentata] i.s. L. Trias. NA. [? nomen dubium]

Lufengocephalus Young 1974 "Lufeng (China) head"

LOO-FUHNG-o-SEF-a-lus (Lufeng + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for the Lufeng Basin, Yunnan Province, China, where the fossil was found. Formerly classified as a rhynchosaur. [= Lufengosaurus]

Lufengosaurus Young 1941 "Lufeng (China) lizard"

LOO-FUHNG-o-SAWR-us (Lufeng + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for the Lufeng Basin, Yunnan Province, China, where the fossil was found. Prosauropoda Plateosauridae E. Jur. China

Lukousaurus Young 1948 "Lukou Bridge (China) lizard"

LOO-KOH-SAWR-us (Chin. lukou "cross-roads" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) Young explains: "The generic name is referred 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 hard times during the struggle against invasion." The fossil itself was found in the Lufeng Basin, Yunnan Province, China. Theropoda i.s. E. Jur. China

Lurdusaurus Taquet & Russell 1999 "heavy lizard"

LOOR-duh-SAWR-us (Late Lat. lurdus "heavy" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named to indicate an unusual ornithopod dinosaur "heavy, both in weight and significance" that resembled a giant ground sloth; based on a nearly complete skeleton (Holotype: MNHN GDF 1700), missing parts of the skull and pelvis, and bones of the hindfeet. The entire animal is estimated to have been about 9 m. (30 ft.) long, and would have weighed around 5.5 metric tons based on its ponderous build and massive bones. The skull was proportionately small compared to the body, estimated 83 cm. long, 30 cm. wide at the back, with a snout about 20 cm. wide at the tip. The neck was longer (1.6 m.) than in other iguanodontids with from 12 to 14 cervical vertebrae. The back was flat and broad at about a meter across. Lurdusaurus had a wide, circular chest and was 2.2 m. (7 ft.) high at the hips, with a relatively short tail. When the animal stood on four legs, the undersurface of body was only 70 cm. (2.3 ft.) off the ground. The forelimbs were powerful and heavily clawed, with a large thumb spike, likely used as a weapon; the tibia was very short (77 cm.) compared to the length of the femur (91 cm.). The metatarsals appear to have been reduced in size and separated from each other, suggesting that a fleshy pad bore most of the weight of the hindfeet. Lurdusaurus represents a previously unknown type of graviportal iguanodont and must have been a slow-moving animal with a striking resemblance to a giant ground sloth. The fossils of this "ponderous iguanodontid" were originally found in 1965, and the dinosaur was later given the unofficial name "Gravisaurus tenerensis."

Type Species: Lurdusaurus arenatus [ar-ee-NAY-tuhs] Taquet & Russell 1999 "sandy" referring to sandy desert region of Gadoufaoua in Niger, West Africa, where the fossils were found. Iguanodontia Iguanodontidae Early Cretaceous (Aptian) W. Africa (Niger) [added 5/99]

Lusitanosaurus de Lapparent & Zbyszewski 1957 "Portuguese lizard"

loos-i-TAYN-o-SAWR-us (Lusitania, Latin name for Portugal + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) referring to Portugal, where the fossil was found. Thyreophora E. Jur. Eur. [nomen dubium]

Lycorhinus Haughton 1924 "wolf snout"

LIEK-o-RIEN-us (Gr. lykos "wolf" + Gr. rhin- (rhis) "snout, nose" + -us) (m) The canine-like teeth in a lower jaw were first thought to indicate a mammal-like cynodont (Synapsida), thus the name. The specimen is now identified as small tusked heterodontosaur. ?Ornithopoda Heterodontosauridae E. Jur. SAfr.