Euskelosaurus

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Euskelosaurus
Temporal range: Late Triassic, 210–201.3  Ma
Euskelosaurus africanus ischia.jpg
E. browni ischia
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Sauropodomorpha
Family: Plateosauridae
Genus: Euskelosaurus
Species:
E. browni
Binomial name
Euskelosaurus browni

Euskelosaurus ("good leg lizard") is a sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Late Triassic of South Africa and Lesotho. Fossils have only been recovered from the lower Elliot Formation in South Africa and Lesotho, [1] and in one locality in Zimbabwe. [2]

Contents

History of discovery

In 1863, Alfred Brown recovered fossil material consisting of limb bones and vertebrae, in the lower Elliot Formation in the southeastern Free State. In 1866, Thomas Henry Huxley first described Euskelosaurus from Brown's fossil material, and named the holotype specimen Euskelosaurus brownii after Brown. [3] Harry Seeley later described Euskelosaurus in 1894, [4] as did Friedrich von Huene in 1902. Since then, other researchers, including Robert Broom, have mentioned Euskelosaurus in their papers, [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] although later papers refer to the material under the name Plateosauravus . [10] [11] [12]

Description

Euskelosaurus is considered to have been a large, robust member of the sauropodomorph clade. Estimates from the existing fossil material measure this dinosaur at about 12.2 m (40 ft) in length and 7 t (7.7 short tons) in weight. [13] With such parameters it was the largest of the non-sauropod ("prosauropod") sauropodomorphs. [13] Its bones are robust and it had a graviportal limb arrangement, a key character trait of basal sauropodomorphs. [14] [15] [16]

Classification

While paleontologists generally consider Euskelosaurus a basal plateosaurid sauropodomorph, it has recently been considered a nomen dubium and a “waste-basket” taxon with poorly understood phylogenetic relationships, warranting further study. [17]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sauropodomorpha</span> Extinct clade of dinosaurs

Sauropodomorpha is an extinct clade of long-necked, herbivorous, saurischian dinosaurs that includes the sauropods and their ancestral relatives. Sauropods generally grew to very large sizes, had long necks and tails, were quadrupedal, and became the largest animals to ever walk the Earth. The prosauropods, which preceded the sauropods, were smaller and were often able to walk on two legs. The sauropodomorphs were the dominant terrestrial herbivores throughout much of the Mesozoic Era, from their origins in the Late Triassic until their decline and extinction at the end of the Cretaceous.

<i>Melanorosaurus</i> Sauropodomorph dinosaur genus from the Late Triassic period

Melanorosaurus is a genus of basal sauropodomorph dinosaur that lived during the Late Triassic period. A omnivore from South Africa, it had a large body and sturdy limbs, suggesting it moved about on all fours. Its limb bones were massive and heavy like the limb bones of true sauropods.

<i>Massospondylus</i> Sauropodomorph dinosaur genus from Early Jurassic South Africa and Botswana

Massospondylus was a genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Early Jurassic. It was described by Sir Richard Owen in 1854 from remains discovered in South Africa, and is thus one of the first dinosaurs to have been named. Fossils have since been found at other locations in South Africa, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe. Material from Arizona's Kayenta Formation, India, and Argentina has been assigned to the genus at various times, but the Arizonan and Argentinian material are now assigned to other genera.

<i>Isanosaurus</i> Genus of dinosaurs

Isanosaurus is an extinct genus of sauropod dinosaur from Thailand. It was originally dated to approximately 210 million years ago during the Late Triassic, which would make it one of the oldest known sauropods. Its age was later considered uncertain, and may be Early Jurassic or even as young as Late Jurassic. The only species is Isanosaurus attavipachi. Though important for the understanding of sauropod origin and early evolution, Isanosaurus is poorly known. Exact relationships to other early sauropods remain unresolved.

<i>Antetonitrus</i> Sauropodiform dinosaur genus from Early Jurassic South Africa

Antetonitrus is a genus of sauropodiform dinosaur found in the Early Jurassic Elliot Formation of South Africa. The only species is Antetonitrus ingenipes. Sometimes considered a basal sauropod, it is crucial for the understanding of the origin and early evolution of this group. It was a quadrupedal herbivore, like its later relatives, but shows primitive adaptations to use the forelimbs for grasping, instead of purely for weight support.

<i>Blikanasaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaur from the late Triassic of South Africa

Blikanasaurus is a genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur from the late Triassic of South Africa. The generic name Blikanasaurus is derived from Greek, meaning "lizard from Blikana". The species name cromptoni is taken from the surname of A.W. "Fuzz" Crompton, an American paleontologist who led numerous field expeditions in Elliot Formation outcrop localities in South Africa. Blikanasaurus is only known from partial hindlimb bones that were recovered from the lower Elliot Formation (LEF) in the Eastern Cape.

Basutodon was a genus of suchian archosaur from the late Carnian-early Norian-age Upper Triassic Lower Elliot Formation of Lesotho. The type species is B. ferox.

<i>Coloradisaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Coloradisaurus is a genus of massospondylid sauropodomorph dinosaur. It lived during the Late Triassic period in what is now La Rioja Province, Argentina. It is known from two specimens collected from the Los Colorados Formation of the Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin.

<i>Eucnemesaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaur of the Triassic in South Africa

Eucnemesaurus is a basal sauropodomorph dinosaur genus usually considered to be a synonym of Euskelosaurus. Recent study by Yates (2006), however, indicates that it is valid and the same animal as putative "giant herrerasaurid" Aliwalia.

<i>Gryponyx</i> Extinct genus of dinosaur from early Jurassic South Africa

Gryponyx is an extinct genus of massopod sauropodomorph known from southern Free State, central South Africa.

Orosaurus is a dubious genus of basal sauropodomorph from the Late Triassic of South Africa.

<i>Plateosauravus</i> Extinct genus of reptiles from the South African Triassic

Plateosauravus is a basal plateosaurian of uncertain affinities from the Late Triassic Elliot Formation of South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clarens Formation</span> Geological formation of the Stormberg Group in southern Africa

The Clarens Formation is a geological formation found in several localities in Lesotho and in the Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, and Eastern Cape provinces in South Africa. It is the uppermost of the three formations found in the Stormberg Group of the greater Karoo Supergroup rocks and represents the final phase of preserved sedimentation of the Karoo Basin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Massospondylidae</span> Extinct family of dinosaurs

Massospondylidae is a family of early massopod dinosaurs that existed in Asia, Africa, North America, South America and Antarctica during the Late Triassic to the Early Jurassic periods. Several dinosaurs have been classified as massospondylids over the years. The largest cladistic analysis of early sauropodomorphs, which was presented by Apaldetti and colleagues in November 2011, found Adeopapposaurus, Coloradisaurus, Glacialisaurus, Massospondylus, Leyesaurus and Lufengosaurus to be massospondylids. This result supports many previous analyses that tested fewer taxa. However, this analysis found the two recently described North American massopods, Sarahsaurus and Seitaad, and the South African Ignavusaurus to nest outside Massospondylidae, as opposed to some provisional proposals. Earlier in 2011, Pradhania, a sauropodomorph from India, was tested for the first time in a large cladistic analysis and was found to be a relatively basal massospondylid. Mussaurus and Xixiposaurus may also be included within Massospondylidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anchisauria</span> Extinct clade of dinosaurs

Anchisauria is an extinct clade of sauropodomorph dinosaurs that lived from the Late Triassic to the Late Cretaceous. The name Anchisauria was first used Haekel and defined by Galton and Upchurch in the second edition of The Dinosauria. It is a node-based taxon containing the most recent common ancestor of Anchisaurus polyzelus and Melanorosaurus readi, and all its descendants. Galton and Upchurch assigned a family of dinosaurs to the Anchisauria: the Melanorosauridae. The more common prosauropods Plateosaurus and Massospondylus were placed in the sister clade Plateosauria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Massopoda</span> Extinct clade of dinosaurs

Massopoda is a clade of sauropodomorph dinosaurs which lived during the Late Triassic to Late Cretaceous epochs. It was named by paleontologist Adam M. Yates of the University of the Witwatersrand in 2007. Massopoda is a stem-based taxon, defined as all animals more closely related to Saltasaurus loricatus than to Plateosaurus engelhardti.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elliot Formation</span> Lithostratigraphic layer of the Stormberg Group in South Africa

The Elliot Formation is a geological formation and forms part of the Stormberg Group, the uppermost geological group that comprises the greater Karoo Supergroup. Outcrops of the Elliot Formation have been found in the northern Eastern Cape, southern Free State, and in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal provinces of South Africa. Outcrops and exposures are also found in several localities in Lesotho such as Qacha's Neck, Hill Top, Quthing, and near the capital, Maseru. The Elliot Formation is further divided into the lower (LEF) and upper (UEF) Elliot formations to differentiate significant sedimentological differences between these layers. The LEF is dominantly Late Triassic (Norian-Hettangian) in age while the UEF is mainly Early Jurassic (Sinemurian-Pliensbachian) and is tentatively regarded to preserve a continental record of the Triassic-Jurassic boundary in southern Africa. This geological formation is named after the town of Elliot in the Eastern Cape, and its stratotype locality is located on the Barkly Pass, 9 km north of the town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stormberg Group</span> Triassic/Jurassic geological group in the Karoo Supergroup in South Africa

The Stormberg Group is one of the four geological groups that comprises the Karoo Supergroup in South Africa. It is the uppermost geological group representing the final phase of preserved sedimentation of the Karoo Basin. The Stormberg Group rocks are considered to range between Lower Triassic (Olenekian) to Lower Jurassic (Pliensbachian) in age. These estimates are based on means of geological dating including stratigraphic position, lithostratigraphic and biostratigraphic correlations, and palynological analyses.

<i>Meroktenos</i> Extinct genus of dinosaur from Triassic southern Africa

Meroktenos is a genus of basal sauropodomorph dinosaur that lived during the Late Triassic period of what is now Lesotho.

<i>Kholumolumo</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Kholumolumo, formerly "Kholumolumosaurus" or "Thotobolosaurus", is an extinct genus of massopodan sauropodomorph dinosaur, which was closely related to Sarahsaurus, from the lower Elliot Formation of Maphutseng, Lesotho. The type species, Kholumolumo ellenbergerorum was formally described in 2020.

References

  1. Gauffre, Francois-Xavier (1993). "Biochronostratigraphy of the Lower Elliot Formation, southern Africa) and preliminary results on the Maphutseng dinosaur. Saurischia: Prosauropoda) from the same Formation of Lesotho". In Lucas, Spencer G.; Morales, Michael (eds.). The Nonmarine Triassic: Bulletin 3. pp. 147–9.
  2. Cooper, M.R. (1980). "The first record of the prosauropod dinosaur Euskelosaurus from Zimbabwe". Arnoldia Zimbabwe. 9 (3): 1–17.
  3. Huxley, TH (1866). "On the remains of large dinosaurian reptiles from the Stormberg mountains, South Africa". Geological Magazine. 3: 563–4. doi:10.1017/S0016756800198395. S2CID   248534963.
  4. Seeley, H.G. (1894). "XLI.—On Euskelesaurus Brownii (Huxley)". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 14 (83): 317–340. doi:10.1080/00222939408677811.
  5. Broom, R. (1911). "On the dinosaurs of the Stormberg, South Africa". Annals of the South African Museum. 7: 291–308.
  6. Van Heerden, J. (1979). The morphology and taxonomy of Euskelosaurus (Reptilia: Saurischia: Late Triassic) from South Africa. Nasionale Museum. OCLC   10876430.[ page needed ]
  7. Welman, Johann (1999). "The basicranium of a basal prosauropod from the Euskelosaurus range zone and thoughts on the origin of dinosaurs". Journal of African Earth Sciences. 29 (1): 227–232. Bibcode:1999JAfES..29..227W. doi:10.1016/S0899-5362(99)00092-5.
  8. Yates, A.M. (2004). The death of a dinosaur: dismembering Euskelosaurus. Geoscience Africa. p. 715. ISBN   978-0-620-32470-0.
  9. Galton, Peter M. (1985). "Notes on the Melanorosauridae, a family of large Prosauropod Dinosaurs (Saurischia: Sauropodomorpha)". Geobios. 18 (5): 671–676. doi:10.1016/S0016-6995(85)80065-6.
  10. Yates, A.M. (2003). A new species of the primitive dinosaur Thecodontosaurus (Saurischia: Sauropodomorpha) and its implications for the systematics of early dinosaurs. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 1(1):1-42
  11. Yates, A.M., and Kitching, J.W. (2003). The earliest known sauropod dinosaur and the first steps towards sauropod locomotion. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 270(1525):1753-1758.
  12. Yates, A.M. (2006). Solving a dinosaurian puzzle: the identity of Aliwalia rex Galton. Historical Biology, iFirst article, 1-30.
  13. 1 2 Patricia Vickers Rich, Thomas Hewitt Rich, Mildred Adams Fenton, Carroll Lane (January 15, 2020). The Fossil Book: A Record of Prehistoric Life. Dover Publications. p. 444. ISBN   9780486838557 . Retrieved 2022-08-25.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. Durand, J.F. (2001). "The oldest juvenile dinosaurs from Africa" (PDF). Journal of African Earth Sciences. 33 (3–4): 597–603. Bibcode:2001JAfES..33..597D. doi:10.1016/S0899-5362(01)00079-3.
  15. McPhee, Blair Wayne (2016). The South African Mesozoic: advances in our understanding of the evolution, palaeobiogeography, and palaeoecology of sauropodomorph dinosaurs (Thesis). hdl:10539/21644.
  16. McPhee, Blair W.; Choiniere, Jonah N. (2016). "A hyper-robust sauropodomorph dinosaur ilium from the Upper Triassic–Lower Jurassic Elliot Formation of South Africa: Implications for the functional diversity of basal Sauropodomorpha". Journal of African Earth Sciences. 123: 177–184. Bibcode:2016JAfES.123..177M. doi:10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2016.08.004.
  17. Krupandan, Emil Darius (2019). Unravelling the biology of the Southern African Sauropodomorph dinosaurs, Plateosauravus and the 'Maphutseng dinosaur' (PhD thesis). University of Cape Town.