Genus
Valid Extinct

Anchisaurus

Marsh 1885
Etymology Reptile proche

Anchisaurus is a genus of basal sauropodomorph dinosaur. It lived during the Early Jurassic Period, and its fossils have been found in the red sandstone of the Upper Portland Formation, Northeastern United States, which was deposited from the Hettangian age into the Sinemurian age, between about 200 and 192 million years ago. Until recently it was classed as a member of Prosauropoda. The genus name Anchisaurus comes from the Greek αγχι anchi-; "near, close" + Greek σαυρος ; "lizard". Anchisaurus was coined as a replacement name for "Amphisaurus", which was itself a replacement name for Hitchcock's "Megadactylus", both of which had already been used for other animals.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
5
Group
Dinosaures
Terrestrial
Anchisaurus
click to enlarge
PLATE II(IX). Fig. 1. Anchisaurus colurus MARSH. All extant specimens in approximately 1/5 nat. size. Connecticut red sandstone (Upper Triassic). Manchester, Conn., USA. MARSH's original specimen, preserved at the Yale Museum, New Haven, Conn. Scale bar: 11 cm. Skull: see Pl. I [VIII], forefoot: see Pl. III [X], scapula, hindleg, and pubis: see figures in the text. © Friedrich von Huene · Public domain · Wikimedia
PBDB Wikipedia
Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
Saurischia Unranked clade
Sauropodomorpha Unranked clade
Massopoda Unranked clade
Anchisaurus Genus
Measurements
Length
2 m
Fossil sites 5 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇺🇸 United States
5
Geological formations
Temporal distribution
Sinemurian (199.5–192.9 Ma)
5
Species (4)
Ammosaurus major subjective synonym of Anchisaurus polyzelus 201 Ma
Anchisaurus colurus subjective synonym of Anchisaurus polyzelus 201 Ma
Anchisaurus polyzelus 201 Ma
Anchisaurus solus subjective synonym of Anchisaurus polyzelus 201 Ma
Synonyms (2)
Amphisaurus replaced by Anchisaurus
Megadactylus replaced by Anchisaurus
Bibliography
Original description
O. C. Marsh. 1885. Names of extinct reptiles. American Journal of Science 29:169
Bibliography (5)
D. B. Weishampel and L. Young. 1996. Dinosaurs of the East Coast DOI ↗
O. C. Marsh. 1892. Notes on Triassic Dinosauria. American Journal of Science 43:543-546 DOI ↗
O. C. Marsh. 1891. Notice of new vertebrate fossils. The American Journal of Science, series 3 42:265-269 DOI ↗
O. C. Marsh. 1889. Notice of new American Dinosauria. The American Journal of Science and Arts, series 3 38:331-336 DOI ↗
E. Hitchcock. 1865. Appendix [A]. Bones of Megadactylus polyzelus. Supplement to the Ichnology of New England. A Report to the Government of Massachusetts in 1863