Podokesaurus holyokensis
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Podokesaurus Temporal range: Early Jurassic, 183 Ma |
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| Holotype specimen | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | Saurischia |
| Suborder: | Theropoda |
| Superfamily: | †Coelophysoidea |
| Family: |
†Podokesauridae Huene, 1914 |
| Genus: |
†Podokesaurus Talbot, 1911 |
| Species: | †P. holyokensis |
| Binomial name | |
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Podokesaurus holyokensis Talbot, 1911 |
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Podokesaurus ("swift-footed lizard") was a small carnivorous dinosaur that living during the Pliensbachian–Toarcian stages of the Early Jurassic Period, and as such is one of the earliest known dinosaurs to inhabit the eastern United States.
The generic name Podokesaurus is derived from Greek word podōkēs (ποδώκης) meaning "swift-footed", an epitheton often used by Homer in the Iliad to describe the hero Achilles, and saura (σαύρα) meaning "lizard"; thus "swift-footed lizard". The specific name refers to Holyoke, a city in Massachusetts, in the Connecticut River Valley.
The type specimen suggests that Podokesaurus was a small, bipedal carnivore was about 90 cm (3 ft) long and 0.3 m (1 ft) tall. Its upper leg bone (femur) measures 86 mm in length, and its lower leg bone (tibia) measures 104 mm in length. The tibia and other skeletal features of referred specimen BSNH 13656 (now on display at the Boston Museum of Science and given the number MOS 2001.248) are nearly three times longer than the type specimen described above. This suggests that Podokesaurus grew to about 9 feet in length, provided that BSNH 13656 is in fact an example of this genus.
The only fossil of the type species Podokesaurus holyokensis, the full species name, was recovered in 1910 by Mount Holyoke College professor of geology and geography, Mignon Talbot. It consisted of a split boulder found by Talbot and her sister Elly on a hillock near to the college. The hillock consists of material deposited by ice and having its probable origin in the Portland Formation in Massachusetts. The slab and counterslab showed a poorly preserved, incomplete skeleton. Most of the skull is lacking. Talbot made pictures of the stones and sought advice from Richard Swann Lull, an authoritative dinosaur expert. It was formally described in June 1911 by Talbot herself, who thereby became the first woman to name a non-avian dinosaur.Podokesaurus was originally thought to have lived during the Late Triassic Period, which was later disproved. Podokesaurus was discovered in sediments deposited during the Pliensbachian–Toarcian stages of the Early Jurassic Period, between 190 and 174 million years ago.
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