Craterosaurus was a 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...

 of stegosaurid 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...

. It lived during the Early Cretaceous

Early Cretaceous

The Early Cretaceous or the Lower Cretaceous , is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous...

 (Valanginian

Valanginian

In the geologic timescale, the Valanginian is an age or stage of the Early or Lower Cretaceous. It spans between 140.2 ± 3.0 Ma and 136.4 ± 2.0 Ma...

 to Barremian

Barremian

The Barremian is an age in the geologic timescale between 130.0 ± 1.5 Ma and 125.0 ± 1.0 Ma). It is a subdivision of the Early Cretaceous epoch...

 stages) around 145-136 million years ago. Its fossils were found in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. Craterosaurus may actually be a junior synonym of Regnosaurus

Regnosaurus

Regnosaurus is a genus of herbivorous stegosaurian dinosaur that lived during the Early Cretaceous Period in what is now England.-Discovery and species:...

, but only one fossil, a partial vertebra, was recovered.

The type

Type species

In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...

 (and only known) species is Craterosaurus pottonensis, described in 1874 by Harry Seeley

Harry Seeley

Harry Govier Seeley was a British paleontologist.-Career:Seeley was born in London, the son of Richard Hovill Seeley, goldsmith, and his second wife Mary Govier. He attended classes at the Royal School of Mines, Kensington before becoming an assistant to Adam Sedgwick at the Woodwardian Museum,...

. The specific name refers to the Potton bonebed. Seeley mistook the fossil, holotype

Holotype

A holotype is a single physical example of an organism, known to have been used when the species was formally described. It is either the single such physical example or one of several such, but explicitly designated as the holotype...

 SMC B.28814, for the base of a cranium. Franz Nopcsa in 1912 correctly identified it as the front part of a neural arch.

External links

• Craterosaurus in the Dinosaur Encyclopedia at DinoRuss' Lair
• Stegosauria