Melanorosaurus
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Melanorosaurus | |
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Life restoration of M. readi | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Clade: | Saurischia |
Clade: | †Sauropodomorpha |
Family: | †Melanorosauridae |
Genus: | †Melanorosaurus Haughton, 1924 |
Type species | |
†Melanorosaurus readi Haughton, 1924
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Melanorosaurus (meaning "Black Mountain Lizard", from the
Description
Melanorosaurus had a skull which measured approximately 250 mm. The snout was somewhat pointed, and the skull was somewhat triangular when seen from above or below. The premaxilla had four teeth on each side, a characteristic of primitive sauropodomorphs. The maxilla had 19 teeth on each side of the jaw.[1]
Melanorosaurus was around 8 metres (26 ft) long, with a weight of 1.3 metric tons (1.3 long tons).[2]
Discovery and species
The
Melanorosaurus thabanensis was named in 1993 by Gauffre, based on holotype MNHN LES-16, a femur found in the Upper Triassic lower Elliot Formation.[5] However, a recent review of the material demonstrated that the femur, along with six other bones, can't be referred to the genus Melanorosaurus, and a new combination (Meroktenos thabanensis) was created.[6]
Classification
Melanorosaurus was once classified as a
The following cladogram shows the position of Melanorosaurus within Massopoda, according to Oliver W. M. Rauhut and colleagues, 2020:[8]
Massopoda |
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References
- ^ a b Yates, Adam M., "The first complete skull of the Triassic dinosaur Melanorosaurus Haughton (Sauropodomorpha: Anchisauria)". In Barrett & Batten (eds.), Evolution and Palaeobiology (2007), pp. 9–55.
- ^ Paul, G.S., 2010, The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs, Princeton University Press p. 170
- ^ S.H. Haughton, 1924, "The fauna and stratigraphy of the Stormberg Series", Annals of the South African Museum 12 : 323-497
- ^ McPhee, B.W., Bordy, E.M., Sciscio, L., and Choiniere, J.N. 2017. The sauropodomorph biostratigraphy of the Elliot Formation of southern Africa: Tracking the evolution of Sauropodomorpha across the Triassic–Jurassic boundary. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 62 (3): 441–465.
- .
- PMID 26855874.
- S2CID 140535438.
- S2CID 220294939.
Bibliography
- Galton PM, Van Heerden J, Yates AM (2005). "Postcranial Anatomy of Referred Specimens of Melanorosaurus". In Carpenter, Kenneth, Tidswell, Virginia (eds.). Thunder Lizards: The Sauropodomorph Dinosaurs. Indiana University Press. pp. 1–37. ISBN 0-253-34542-1.