Ignavusaurus
Ignavusaurus Temporal range: Early Jurassic,
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Clade: | Saurischia |
Clade: | †Sauropodomorpha |
Clade: | †Massopoda |
Genus: | †Ignavusaurus Knoll, 2010 |
Species: | †I. rachelis
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Binomial name | |
†Ignavusaurus rachelis Knoll, 2010
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Ignavusaurus is a
Discovery
The holotype was discovered in southern Lesotho near Ha Ralekoala. The fossils were discovered in a mostly articulated state, although the skull was badly damaged, having broken into more than 120 fragments. An unpublished 2002 Ph.D. dissertation referred to the remains, but they were not formally described for several years, and the find remained unpublished.[1]
In 2010, the fossils were described by F. Knoll of the
Etymology
The generic name Ignavusaurus is derived from the Latin word ignavus ("coward") and Ancient Greek sauros ("lizard"). It refers to the type locality – Ha Ralekoala, that literally means "The place of the father of the coward". The specific name of the type species, rachelis, honours Spanish palaeontologist Raquel López-Antoñanzas.[1]
Description
The holotype had a body length of about 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) and weighed about 22.5 kilograms (50 lb). Histological analysis of the humerus and femur indicates that BM HR 20 was fast-growing individual, maybe less than one year old, based on age determination studies.[1]
Like other early sauropodomorphs, Ignavusaurus had a long, slender neck and tail. It generally resembled Massospondylus and Melanorosaurus, two other sauropodomorphs from southern Africa, although the shape and position of the teeth, among other factors, led Knoll to conclude that the remains belong to a previously unknown genus.[1]
Classification
Ignavusaurus is a basal
References
- ^ S2CID 129174260. Archived from the originalon 2012-03-13.
- S2CID 85589914.
- PMID 22096511.
- ^ Chapelle KEJ, Choiniere JN. (2018) A revised cranial description of Massospondylus carinatus Owen (Dinosauria: Sauropodomorpha) based on computed tomographic scans and a review of cranial characters for basal Sauropodomorpha. PeerJ 6:e4224 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4224
- ^ Chapelle KEJ, Barrett PM, Botha J, Choiniere JN. 2019. Ngwevu intloko: a new early sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Lower Jurassic Elliot Formation of South Africa and comments on cranial ontogeny in Massospondylus carinatus. PeerJ 7:e7240 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.7240