''Caletodraco'' is a genus of furileusaurian

abelisaurid Abelisauridae (meaning "Abel's lizards") is a family (or clade) of ceratosaurian theropod dinosaurs. Abelisaurids thrived during the Cretaceous period, on the ancient southern supercontinent of Gondwana, and today their fossil remains are foun ...

dinosaur from Late Cretaceous (

Cenomanian The Cenomanian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy's (ICS) geological timescale, the oldest or earliest age (geology), age of the Late Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch or the lowest stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Upper Cretace ...

) Chalk of the Pays de Caux,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. The type species is ''Caletodraco cottardi''. It represents the first definitive furileusaurian named from outside of South America.

Discovery and naming

The holotype specimen, MHNH 2024.1.1., was collected by Nicolas Cottard during two separate expeditions in 2021 and 2023, and it includes a sacrum, incomplete ilia, the first caudal vertebra, and various poorly preserved bones, possibly ribs. A tooth found at the same locality may belong to the same taxon or a predator or scavenger. ''Caletodraco'' was described as a new genus and species of abelisaurid in 2024. The generic name, ''Caletodraco'', combines the name of the Caleti, the Celtic tribe that lived in the area around the type locality in

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

, France, with the Latin ''draco'', meaning "dragon". The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

, honors Nicolas Cottard, who discovered the specimen and donated it to the museum where it is now reposited.

Description

The ''Caletodraco'' holotype is similar in general size to the corresponding bones of '' Skorpiovenator''. The ilia of both taxa measures around , with the length of the first caudal vertebral centra at about . As ''Skorpiovenator'' is known from a fairly complete skeleton with an estimated total length of , it can be assumed that ''Caletodraco'' was similar in size. The shape of the

transverse process Each vertebra (: vertebrae) is an irregular bone with a complex structure composed of bone and some hyaline cartilage, that make up the vertebral column or spine, of vertebrates. The proportions of the vertebrae differ according to their spina ...

on the caudal vertebra is an

autapomorphy In phylogenetics, an autapomorphy is a distinctive feature, known as a Synapomorphy, derived trait, that is unique to a given taxon. That is, it is found only in one taxon, but not found in any others or Outgroup (cladistics), outgroup taxa, not ...

that distinguishes ''Caletodraco'' from all other abelisaurids.

Classification

''Caletodraco'' was assigned by its describers to the abelisaurid subclade Furileusauria. This makes it one of the oldest known furileusaurians, possibly along with '' Genusaurus'' from the Early Cretaceous of France. This suggests a more complex biogeography of European abelisaurs than previously assumed.

References

{{Theropoda, B. Abelisauridae Dinosaur genera Cenomanian dinosaurs Taxa named by Éric Buffetaut Fossil taxa described in 2024 Dinosaurs of France