In Depth
Berberosaurus will catch the eye of anyone interested in theropod dinosaurs because the genus may represent the oldest ceratosaur, though not everyone is in agreement. The original description of Berberosaurus came to the conclusion that Berberosaurus was an abelisauroid that was more advanced than genera such as Elaphrosaurus and Spinostropheus, though more primitive than Xenotarsosaurus and other abelisaurs. This was challenged one year later when a study by Carrano and Sampson found Berberosaurus to actually be basal ceratosaur instead. Then again one year after this in 2009, a study by Xu et al. found Berberosaurus to be a dilophosaurid and therefore related to genera such as Cryolophosaurus, Dilophosaurus and Dracovenator.
Regardless of the eventual phylogenetic placement of the genus, Berberosaurus seems to have been a medium sized theropod dinosaur, and was likely a predator of other dinosaurs of the time. These may include later prosauropods as well as early sauropods, with a particular genus called Tazoudasaurus being known from the same location as Berberosaurus. Other prey animals could include early ornithiscians as well as smaller theropods.
The name Berberosaurus means ‘berber lizard’ and is a reference to the Berber people of Morocco. The species name B. liassicus is a reference to the Lias epoch.
Further Reading
- A basal abelisauroid from the late Early Jurassic of the High Atlas Mountains, Morocco, and the radiation of ceratosaurs - Ronan Allain, Ronald Tykoski, Najat Aquesbi, Nour-Eddine, Michel Monbaron, Dale Russell & Phillipe Taquet - 2007. - The phylogeny of Ceratosauria (Dinosauria: Theropoda). Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 6 - Carrano & Sampson - 2008. - A Jurassic ceratosaur from China helps clarify avian digital homologies (supplementary information) - X. Xu, J. M. Clark, J. Mo, J. Choiniere, C. A. Forster, G. M. Erickson, D. W. E. Hone, C. Sullivan, D. A. Eberth, S. Nesbitt, Q. Zhao, R. Hernandez, C. -K. Jia, F. -L. Han & Y. Guo - 2009.
