Named By: | Anatoly Riabinin in 1931 |
Time Period: | Early Cretaceous |
Location: | Kazakhstan |
Size: | Uncertain due to lack of remains |
Diet: | Carnivore |
Fossil(s): | Two partial vertebrae |
Classification: | | Chordata | Reptilia | Dinosauria | Saurischia | Theropoda | Megalosauroidea | Tyrannosauroidea | |
Also known as: | | Embasasaurus | |
Embasaurus (Emba lizard) is a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous period. Fossils have been found in Kazakhstan in central Asia. As it is known only from two fragmentary vertebrae, Embasaurus is considered by some to be a possible nomen dubium. It was named after the Emba River, and it is believed to have lived during the Berriasian stage, around 140 million years ago. According to the Theropod Database, a personal website designed by Mickey Mortimer, further research may suggest that Embasaurus may be a basal tyrannosauroid. George Olshevsky, however, considered Embasaurus to be a megalosaurid, closely related to Magnosaurus, Megalosaurus, and Torvosaurus.
The type species, Embasaurus minax, was described by the Soviet paleontologist Anatoly Riabinin in 1931.