Liliensternus airelensis, Cuny and Galton, 1993

Rauhut, Oliver W. M., 2003, The interrelationships and evolution of basal theropod dinosaurs, Special papers in palaeontology 69, pp. 1-213 : 15

Lilienstemus airelensis Cuny and Galton, 1993

Age . Rhaetian-Hettangian.

Occurrence. Moon-Airel Formation, Normandy, France.

Diagnosis. Cervical vertebrae with dorsoventrally narrow, anteroposteriorly elongated posterior pleurocoel; deep infradiapophyseal fossa in anterior cervical vertebrae; horizontal ridge at the basis of the neural spine in cervical vertebrae; ilium with a triangular lateral bulge above the supraacetabular crest.

Remarks. Larsonneur and Lapparent (1966) described associated and partially articulated remains of a theropod dinosaur from the Moon-Airel Formation of Normandy and referred them to Halticosaurus sp., based on comparisons with Halticosaurus liliensterni (now Lilienstemus lilienstemi) from the Norian of Germany. The material received little attention in the following decades, until Cuny and Galton (1993) redescribed it and showed that it represents a distinct taxon. They designated the specimen as the holotype of a new species of the genus Lilienstemus, Lilienstemus airelensis . Although the material is very incomplete, the rather large number of apomorphic characters in the cervical vertebrae alone clearly establishes it as a valid taxon.