Wyomingraptor
Encyclopedia
"Wyomingraptor" is the name unofficially ascribed to an allosaurid
dinosaur
from the Morrison Formation
of the Late Jurassic
. The few remains unearthed are labeled as Allosaurus
in the Tate Museum. Robert Bakker, who discovered the fossils in 1997, has proposed the new name. However, there has been no official description of the remains and the name cannot be used until scientific scrutiny suggests they represent a separate genus
. Until such a time, "Wyomingraptor" must remain a nomen nudum
.
Allosaurid
Allosauridae was a family of medium to large sized carnivorous theropod dinosaurs. Members included Saurophaganax, Allosaurus, and the poorly known Epanterias, which could well be a specimen of Allosaurus...
dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
from the Morrison Formation
Morrison Formation
The Morrison Formation is a distinctive sequence of Late Jurassic sedimentary rock that is found in the western United States, which has been the most fertile source of dinosaur fossils in North America. It is composed of mudstone, sandstone, siltstone and limestone and is light grey, greenish...
of the Late Jurassic
Jurassic
The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Mya to Mya, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic era, also known as the age of reptiles. The start of the period is marked by...
. The few remains unearthed are labeled as Allosaurus
Allosaurus
Allosaurus is a genus of large theropod dinosaur that lived 155 to 150 million years ago during the late Jurassic period . The name Allosaurus means "different lizard". It is derived from the Greek /allos and /sauros...
in the Tate Museum. Robert Bakker, who discovered the fossils in 1997, has proposed the new name. However, there has been no official description of the remains and the name cannot be used until scientific scrutiny suggests they represent a separate genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
. Until such a time, "Wyomingraptor" must remain a nomen nudum
Nomen nudum
The phrase nomen nudum is a Latin term, meaning "naked name", used in taxonomy...
.