Technosaurus

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title: "Technosaurus" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["silesauridae", "reptile-genera", "norian-reptiles", "fossil-taxa-described-in-1984", "taxa-named-by-sankar-chatterjee", "reptiles-of-the-united-states"] description: "Extinct genus of reptiles" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technosaurus" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Extinct genus of reptiles ::

| fossil_range = Late Triassic, | image = Technosaurus premaxilla and dentary.jpg | image_caption = Premaxilla and dentary of Technosaurus smalli in the collection of the Museum of Texas Tech University. | display_parents = 3 | taxon = Technosaurus | authority = Chatterjee, 1984 | type_species = Technosaurus smalli | type_species_authority = Chatterjee, 1984 Technosaurus (meaning "Tech lizard", for Texas Tech University) is an extinct genus of silesaurid dinosauriforms, from the Late Triassic Cooper Canyon Formation (Dockum Group) of Texas, United States.

For about 20 years after its description, it was thought to be a basal ornithischian dinosaur, but better remains of other Triassic archosaurs have cast doubt on this interpretation. As named, it was a chimera of different animals.

Description and history

Technosaurus is based on TTUP P9021, which initially consisted of a premaxilla (tip of the upper jaw), two lower jaw pieces, a back vertebra, and an astragalus. Technosaurus and its type species, T. smalli, were named by Sankar Chatterjee in 1984. He described it as a fabrosaurid, a clade of small, early ornithischians now considered to have been an artificial grouping. Material from the quarry where P9021 was found is disassociated and comes from a variety of Late Triassic animals, which would prove problematic.

The genus was reviewed in 1991 by Paul Sereno, who interpreted the premaxilla and a fragment from the front of the lower jaw as pertaining to a hatchling prosauropod, and found the vertebra to be indeterminate and the astragalus an unidentifiable fragment. Thus, he restricted the remains to be considered Technosaurus to the second lower jaw piece, a posterior fragment.

References

References

1. Chatterjee, Sankar. (1984). "A new ornithischian dinosaur from the Triassic of North America". Naturwissenschaften.
2. Sereno, Paul C.. (1991). "''Lesothosaurus'', "fabrosaurids", and the early evolution of Ornithischia". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
3. Irmis, Randall B.. (2007). "Early ornithischian dinosaurs: the Triassic record". Historical Biology.
4. Nesbitt, Sterling J.. (2007). "A critical re-evaluation of the Late Triassic dinosaur taxa of North America". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology.

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