Overview of palaeontology in Wales
Palaeontology in Wales is palaeontological research occurring in Wales.
Triassic dinosaurs.
Aenigmaspina.
Aenigmaspina (from Latin "aenigma" and "spina", meaning "enigmatic spine") is an extinct genus of enigmatic pseudosuchian (=crurotarsan) archosaur from the Late Triassic of the United Kingdom. Its fossils are known from the Pant-y-ffynnon Quarry in South Wales, of which its type and only known species is named after, A. pantyffynnonensis.
"Pantydraco".
"Pantydraco" (where "panty-" is short for Pant-y-ffynnon, signifying "hollow of the spring/well" in Welsh, referring to the quarry at Bonvilston in South Wales where it was found) was a genus of basal sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Late Triassic of Wales. It is based on a partial juvenile skeleton once thought to belong to "Thecodontosaurus". Only one valid species of "Pantydraco" is recognised: P. caducus.
"Pendraig".
"Pendraig" (meaning "chief dragon" in Middle Welsh) is a genus of coelophysoid theropod dinosaur from South Wales. It contains one species, Pendraig milnerae, named after Angela Milner. The specimen was discovered in the Pant-y-Ffynnon quarry. In life it would have measured one metre in length.
Jurassic Wales.
"Paceyodon".
"Paceyodon" is an extinct genus of morganucodontan from Early Jurassic deposits of south Wales. "Paceyodon" is known from an isolated molariform that is significantly larger than any morganucodontan molariform yet discovered. It was collected in the Pant Quarry, Vale of Glamorgan. It was first named by William A. Clemens in 2011 and the type species is "Paceyodon davidi".
"Dracoraptor".
"Dracoraptor" (meaning "dragon thief") is a genus of coelophysoid dinosaur that lived during the Hettangian stage of the Early Jurassic Period of what is now Wales dated at 201.3 ± 0.2 million years old.
The fossil was first discovered in 2014 by Rob and Nick Hanigan and Sam Davies at the Blue Lias Formation on the South Wales coast. The genus name "Dracoraptor" is from Draco referring to the Welsh dragon and raptor, meaning robber, a commonly employed suffix for theropod dinosaurs with the type species being "Dracoraptor hanigani". It is the oldest known Jurassic dinosaur and is the first dinosaur skeleton from the Jurassic of Wales.