''Lucianosaurus'' is an
extinct genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
of
amniote of unknown affinities, known only from
teeth
A tooth ( : teeth) is a hard, calcified structure found in the jaws (or mouths) of many vertebrates and used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores and omnivores, also use teeth to help with capturing or wounding prey, t ...
. Initially described as a basal
ornithischian
Ornithischia () is an extinct order of mainly herbivorous dinosaurs characterized by a pelvic structure superficially similar to that of birds. The name ''Ornithischia'', or "bird-hipped", reflects this similarity and is derived from the Greek st ...
dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...
, subsequently reclassified as a member of the clade
Archosauriformes
Archosauriformes (Greek for 'ruling lizards', and Latin for 'form') is a clade of diapsid reptiles that developed from archosauromorph ancestors some time in the Latest Permian (roughly 252 million years ago). It was defined by Jacques Gauthier ...
of uncertain phylogenetic placement
[Irmis, R.B., Parker, W.G., Nesbitt, S.J., and Liu, J. (2006). Early ornithischian dinosaurs: the Triassic record. ''Historical Biology'' 19(1):3-22. ] and later, taking into account the similarity of its teeth to the teeth of
traversodontid
Traversodontidae is an extinct family of herbivorous cynodonts. Traversodonts were primarily Gondwanan, with many species known from Africa and South America. Recently, traversodonts have also been found from Europe and eastern North America. Tra ...
cynodonts such as ''
Dadadon'' (shared presence of teeth with sub-triangular crowns, enlarged denticles, and thecodont tooth implantation), as an amniote of uncertain affinities (though based on dissimilarities in gross morphology and geographic separation it is still more likely that the taxon is indeed an archosauriform rather than a traversodontid).
Fossil remains of Lucianosaurus were first found in
Late Triassic
The Late Triassic is the third and final epoch of the Triassic Period in the geologic time scale, spanning the time between Ma and Ma (million years ago). It is preceded by the Middle Triassic Epoch and followed by the Early Jurassic Epoch. ...
strata in
Eastern New Mexico,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
.
[Hunt, A.P. and Lucas, S.G. 1994. Ornithischian dinosaurs from the Upper Triassic of the United States. In: Fraser, N.C. and Sues, H.-D. (eds), In the Shadow of the Dinosaurs: Early Mesozoic Tetrapods. Cambridge University Press, pp. 227-241.] The generic name refers to Luciano Mesa () in
Guadalupe and
Quay
A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths ( mooring locatio ...
counties of New Mexico where the teeth of Lucianosaurus were first uncovered and identified.
References
Late Triassic tetrapods of North America
Triassic tetrapods
{{Triassic-reptile-stub