#berberosaurus

Berberosaurus enjoying some time on the beach

By Ashley Patch on @apatchsketches​

Name: Berberosaurus liassicus 

Name Meaning: Berber Lizard from the Lias epoch 

First Described: 2007

Described By: Allain et al 

Classification: Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Ceratosauria(?) 

Berberosaurus was quite possibly the oldest known Ceratosaur, though that fact is not yet fully confirmed. It lived in the Pliensbachian-Toarcian stage of the Early jurassic, about 183 million years ago. It was found in the High Atlas of Toundoute, Ouarzazate, Morocco. If it was an early Ceratosaur, it pushes back the beginning of that clade to the early Jurassic. As such, many paleontologists believe it was a dilophosaurid instead, or a more basal neotheropod. It was a bipedal carnivore, of around the same size as Dilophosaurus. It lived in the same environment as the early sauropod Tazoudasaurus. It was probably a predatory dinosaur that preyed on the sauropods and prosauropods in the area, as well as possibly early ornithiscians and smaller theropods. As it is known from very few remains, more specimens will need to be discovered before it can be fully classified and better understood. 

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berberosaurus

http://www.prehistoric-wildlife.com/species/b/berberosaurus.html

http://www.palaeocritti.com/by-group/dinosauria/ceratosauria/berberosaurus