Thespesius

genus of reptiles (fossil)

Thespesius, or Thespecius, is an extinct hadrosaur described by Joseph Leidy in 1876.

Thespesius
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 66 Ma
The syntype fossils
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Order: Ornithischia
Suborder: Ornithopoda
Family: Hadrosauridae
Subfamily: Saurolophinae
Genus: Thespesius
Leidy, 1856
Species:
T. occidentalis
Binomial name
Thespesius occidentalis
Leidy, 1856
Synonyms

History of Thespesius

change

Thespecius was discovered in Montana in 1855. Known fossils include vertebrae and toe bones (phalanx).

The name Thespesius means wondrous one. Leidy avoided using the suffix "saurus" in the genus name because Vandiveer Hayden had claimed the bones came from a layer from the Miocene so there was a chance that the animal would turn out to be a mammal, though Leidy himself was convinced it was a dinosaurian. Thespesius turned out to be a dinosaur. The specific name occidentalis means "western" in Latin.