| Caletodraco | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Reconstructed skeleton | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | Theropoda |
| Family: | †Abelisauridae |
| Clade: | †Furileusauria |
| Genus: | †Caletodraco Buffetaut et al.,2024 |
| Type species | |
| †Caletodraco cottardi Buffetaut et al., 2024 | |
Caletodraco is a genus offurileusaurianabelisaurid dinosaur from Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian)Chalk of the Pays de Caux,France. The type species isCaletodraco cottardi. It represents the first definitive furileusaurian named from outside of South America.[1]
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The holotype specimen,MHNH 2024.1.1., was collected by Nicolas Cottard during two separate expeditions in 2021 and 2023, and it includes a sacrum, incomplete ilia, the first caudal vertebra, and various poorly preserved bones, possibly ribs. A tooth found at the same locality may belong to the same taxon or a predator or scavenger.[1]
Caletodraco wasdescribed as a new genus and species of abelisaurid in 2024. Thegeneric name,Caletodraco, combines the name of theCaleti, the Celtic tribe that lived in the area around the type locality inNormandy, France, with the Latindraco, meaning "dragon". Thespecific name, honors Nicolas Cottard, who discovered the specimen and donated it to the museum where it is now reposited.[1]
TheCaletodraco holotype is similar in general size to the corresponding bones ofSkorpiovenator. The ilia of both taxa measures around 70 centimetres (28 in), with the length of the first caudal vertebral centra at about 10 centimetres (3.9 in). AsSkorpiovenator is known from a fairly complete skeleton with an estimated total length of 6 metres (20 ft), it can be assumed thatCaletodraco was similar in size. The shape of thetransverse process on the caudal vertebra is anautapomorphy that distinguishesCaletodraco from all other abelisaurids.[1]
Caletodraco was assigned by its describers to the abelisaurid subclade Furileusauria. This makes it one of the oldest known furileusaurians, possibly along withGenusaurus from the Early Cretaceous of France. This suggests a more complex biogeography of European abelisaurs than previously assumed.[1]
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