Dale Russell
Fossils of this dinosaur were recovered at the Kem Kem Formation in the Tafilalt Oasis region of Morocco, near the site of the ancient city of Sijilmassa, for which it was named. Canadian paleontologist Dale Russell named "Sigilmassasaurus" in 1996, from the ancient city and the Greek word "sauros" ("lizard"). A single species was named, "S. brevicollis", which is derived from the Latin "brevis" ("short") and "collum" ("neck"), because the neck vertebrae are very short from front to back. "Sigilmassasaurus" comes from red sandstone sediments in southern Morocco, which are known by various names, including the "Grès rouges infracénomaniens", Continental Red Beds, and lower Kem Kem Beds. These rocks date back to the Cenomanian, the earliest stage of the Late Cretaceous Period, approximately 100 to 94 million years ago.