Tharosaurus
| Tharosaurus Temporal range: Middle Jurassic,
| |
|---|---|
| Cervical vertebrae of the holotype | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | †Sauropoda |
| Clade: | †Eusauropoda |
| Genus: | †Tharosaurus Bajpai et al., 2023 |
| Species: | †T. indicus
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Tharosaurus indicus Bajpai et al., 2023
| |
Tharosaurus (meaning "Thar Desert lizard") is an extinct genus of potentially dubious eusauropod sauropod dinosaurs from the Middle Jurassic Jaisalmer Formation of India. The genus contains a single species, Tharosaurus indicus, known from a fragmentary skeleton including several vertebrae and a rib. When it was named in 2023, Tharosaurus was interpreted as the earliest known diplodocoid and the first member of this clade described from India. However, a later revision of the fossil material argued for a position outside of this clade, as an indeterminate eusauropod. This revision could not find unique features in the Tharosaurus specimen, so it was classified as a nomen dubium.