Rhadinosaurus is 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 prehistoric reptile

Reptile

Reptiles are members of a class of air-breathing, ectothermic vertebrates which are characterized by laying shelled eggs , and having skin covered in scales and/or scutes. They are tetrapods, either having four limbs or being descended from four-limbed ancestors...

 described in 1881 by Harry Govier 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,...

, from remains found in Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

. The name means "slender lizard". It lived about 80 million years ago (during the Late Cretaceous

Late Cretaceous

The Late Cretaceous is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous period is divided in the geologic timescale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous series...

 period). The type species

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...

 is R. alcinus.

The fossil

Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...

 finds have been fragmentary. So far, only a humerus

Humerus

The humerus is a long bone in the arm or forelimb that runs from the shoulder to the elbow....

, a possible femur

Femur

The femur , or thigh bone, is the most proximal bone of the leg in tetrapod vertebrates capable of walking or jumping, such as most land mammals, birds, many reptiles such as lizards, and amphibians such as frogs. In vertebrates with four legs such as dogs and horses, the femur is found only in...

, two vertebrae and other indeterminate fragments have been discovered. The result of such minimal findings is that the classification of this creature is uncertain. It has variously been described as an ankylosaur, a synonym of Struthiosaurus

Struthiosaurus

Struthiosaurus is one of the smallest known and most basal genera of nodosaurid dinosaurs, from the Late Cretaceous period of Austria, Romania and France in Europe. It was protected by body armour...

, or as a crocodilia

Crocodilia

Crocodilia is an order of large reptiles that appeared about 84 million years ago in the late Cretaceous Period . They are the closest living relatives of birds, as the two groups are the only known survivors of the Archosauria...

n. For this reason, the scientific classification data that are provided in this article are minimal.