Tarascosaurus

Tarascosaurus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, approximately 80 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Tarascosaurus salluvicus femur
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Superorder:	Dinosauria
Order:	Saurischia
Suborder:	Theropoda
Infraorder:	Ceratosauria
Family:	?Abelisauridae
Genus:	Tarascosaurus Le Loeuff & Buffetaut, 1991
Species
T. salluvicus Le Loeuff & Buffetaut, 1991 (type)

Tarascosaurus ("Tarasque lizard") is a genus of, perhaps abelisaurid, theropod dinosaur from Late Cretaceous of France.

After having in 1988 identified an upper jaw bone found near Pourcieux as belonging to a member of the Abelisauridae, French paleontologist Eric Buffetaut reviewed the known remains of larger theropods found in the Late Cretaceous of Europe concluding they all were of abelisaurid affinity. Most of these fossils, earlier named as Megalosaurus pannoniensis, Megalosaurus hungaricus and Megalosaurus lonzeensis, he considered to be nomina dubia because of the paucity of the material. However, when in the collection of the University of Lyon he discovered some theropod bones once excavated by an unknown collector at the escarpment of the Lambeau de Beausset, Buffetaut and Jean Le Loeuff named and described these in 1991 as the type species Tarascosaurus salluvicus. The generic name is derived from the Tarasque or Tarasca, a devouring monster from Occitan and Spanish folklore. The specific name refers to the Salluvii, a Gallic tribe in Antiquity inhabiting the area near Marseilles.