Berberosaurus

Phylogeny: Dinosauria > Saurischia > Theropoda > Neotheropoda > Ceratosauria

Overview: Described by paleontologists in 2007, Berberosaurus was named in honor of the Berber peoples, who inhabit much of what is now North Africa, including in Morocco. Fossils of the animal were found a few years prior, in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains. Specifically, the remains were found in the rocks of the Azilal Formation, which has been dated to the Early Jurassic. Berberosaurus, as a genus, was originally based on a partial skeleton that included some limb bones, neck vertebrae, its pelvis, and some other bits and pieces. Some more fossil material, including a potential partial skull, has yet to be described in full. Berberosaurus appears to have been a medium-sized theropod, with a length of maybe four or five meters, though it possibly grew to be larger. Its overall appearance, however, is restored largely based on how the genus is classified.

Berberosaurus was originally classified as a very basal abelisauroid, related to the abelisaurids and noasaurids. Later studies cast doubt on this classification, suggesting it was a more basal theropod overall, placing it within the proposed dilophosaurid family, close to Dilophosaurus itself. However, most studies nowadays find support for it being a ceratosaur, but not as an abelisauroid. Instead, it may be one of the earliest confirmed members of the Ceratosauria in general. Basal neotheropods like Dilophosaurus were usually slender animals, but as a ceratosaur, Berberosaurus may’ve been a bit more heavily built. In some restorations, it’s depicted in a fashion similar to that of the famous Ceratosaurus, with speculative horns or crests on the skull. Saltriovenator, known from even older Jurassic rock layers in Italy, may’ve been a close relative of Berberosaurus.