Lucianosaurus

{{Short description|Extinct genus of reptiles}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = Late Triassic,
{{fossilrange|228|208.5}}

| taxon = Lucianosaurus

| authority = Hunt & Lucas, 1994

| display_parents = 2

| type_species = {{extinct}}Lucianosaurus wildi

| type_species_authority = Hunt & Lucas, 1994

}}

Lucianosaurus is an extinct genus of amniote of unknown affinities, known only from teeth. Initially described as a basal ornithischian dinosaur, subsequently reclassified as a member of the clade Archosauriformes of uncertain phylogenetic placementIrmis, R.B., Parker, W.G., Nesbitt, S.J., and Liu, J. (2006). Early ornithischian dinosaurs: the Triassic record. Historical Biology 19(1):3-22. {{doi|10.1080/08912960600719988}} and later, taking into account the similarity of its teeth to the teeth of traversodontid cynodonts such as Dadadon (shared presence of teeth with sub-triangular crowns, enlarged denticles, and thecodont tooth implantation), as an amniote of uncertain affinities (though based on dissimilarities in gross morphology and geographic separation it is still more likely that the taxon is indeed an archosauriform rather than a traversodontid).{{Cite journal|author1=Christian F. Kammerer |author2=John J. Flynn |author3=Lovasoa Ranivoharimanana |author4=André R. Wyss |year=2012 |title=Ontogeny in the Malagasy Traversodontid Dadadon isaloi and a Reconsideration of its Phylogenetic Relationships |journal=Fieldiana Life and Earth Sciences |volume=5 |pages=112–125 |doi=10.3158/2158-5520-5.1.112|s2cid=84651546 }}

Fossil remains of Lucianosaurus were first found in the Late Triassic Dockum Group of Eastern New Mexico, United States.Hunt, A.P. and Lucas, S.G. (1994). Ornithischian dinosaurs from the Upper Triassic of the United States. In: Fraser, N.C. and Sues, H.-D. (eds), In the Shadow of the Dinosaurs: Early Mesozoic Tetrapods. Cambridge University Press, pp. 227-241. The generic name refers to Luciano Mesa ({{coord|34.980121|-104.150048|display=inline}}) in Guadalupe and Quay counties of New Mexico where the teeth of Lucianosaurus were first uncovered and identified.{{Gnis|898818|Luciano Mesa}}