Kangnasaurus
| Kangnasaurus | |
|---|---|
| |
| Thigh bone of cf. Kangnasaurus | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | †Ornithischia |
| Clade: | †Ornithopoda |
| Clade: | †Elasmaria |
| Genus: | †Kangnasaurus Haughton, 1915 |
| Species: | †K. coetzeei
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Kangnasaurus coetzeei Haughton, 1915
| |
Kangnasaurus (meaning "Farm Kangnas lizard") is a
postcranial remains found in the early-Aptian Kalahari Deposits Formation.[1] It was probably similar to Dryosaurus
.
Discovery and naming
Kangnasaurus was named in 1915 by
lower jaw tooth in 1985.[4] This had implications for its classification: Haughton thought the tooth was that of an iguanodontid,[2] while Cooper identified it as from an animal more like Dryosaurus, a more basal ornithopod.[4]
Haughton described several other fossils as possibly belonging to Kangnasaurus. These include five partial
metatarsal, a partial shin and foot, vertebrae, and unidentified bones. Some of the bones apparently came from other deposits, and Haughton was not certain that they all belonged to his new genus.[2] Cooper was also not certain, but described the other specimens as if they did belong to Kangnasaurus.[4]
Classification
Kangnasaurus is usually regarded as dubious,[5][6] although a 2007 review of dryosaurids by Ruiz-Omeñaca and colleagues retained it as potentially valid, differing from other dryosaurids by details of the thigh bone.[3] Like other basal iguanodontians, it would have been a bipedal herbivore.[6]
At least two recent studies have found it to be an elasmarian instead of a dryosaurid.[7][8]
References
- ^ "Table 19.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 417.
- ^ .
- ^ ISBN 978-0-253-34817-3.
- ^ a b c Cooper, Michael R. (1985). "A revision of the ornithischian dinosaur Kangnasaurus coetzeei Haughton, with a classification of the Ornithischia". Annals of the South African Museum. 95 (8): 281–317.
- ISBN 0-520-06727-4.
- ^ ISBN 0-520-24209-2.
- S2CID 155344014.
- .