| Gryponyx Temporal range: Lower Jurassic | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Part of the holotype | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | † Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | † Massopoda |
| Family: | † Gryponychidae Huene, 1932 |
| Genus: | † Gryponyx Broom, 1911 |
| Species: | †G. africanus |
| Binomial name | |
| †Gryponyx africanus Broom, 1911 | |
Gryponyx (meaning "hooked-claw") is an extinct genus of massopod sauropodomorph known from southern Free State, central South Africa. [1]
Gryponyx africanus is known from the holotype SAM 3357-59, a nearly complete postcranial skeleton which includes partial vertebral column, pelvis, both forelimbs and both hindlimbs. Gryponyx has been estimated to have been about 5 m (16 ft) in length. It was collected from the Upper Elliot Formation of the Stormberg Group (Karoo Basin), dating to the Hettangian to Sinemurian stages of the Lower Jurassic period. [1]
It was originally described by Broom (1911) as a theropod. [1] Huene (1932) named the family Gryponychidae to contain Gryponyx and Aetonyx and placed it within Carnosauria. [2] Galton and Cluver synonymized G. africanus with Massospondylus harriesi in 1976, [3] which was in turn synonymized by Michael Cooper in 1981 with Massospondylus carinatus [4] (and today M. harriesi is considered to be a nomen dubium ). [5] However, Vasconcelos and Yates (2004) found Gryponyx to be distinctive enough from other basal sauropodomorphs to be placed in its own genus. They found that it differs from other taxa by the following characteristics: total length of metacarpal I exceeds maximum proximal width and a long, narrow pubic apron with straight lateral margins. Although this publication wasn't formal, they conducted a cladistic analysis using Yates (2004) sauropodomorph matrix and found Gryponyx to be the most basal massospondylid. [6] The same result was found by Lü Junchang et al. (2010). [7] Yates et al. (2010) recovered Gryponyx in a trichotomy with Massospondylidae and Anchisauria. [8] However, Gryponyx has yet to be formally redescribed.
Two additional species of Gryponyx have been described: G. transvaalensis was described on the basis of finger bones and the anterior limb metatarsals from the Late Triassic Bushveld Sandstone Formation, Transvaal. G. taylori was described on the basis of sacral and pelvic rim from the Upper Elliot Formation, southern Free State. [5] Galton and Cluver (1976) synonymized G. taylori with M. harriesi and considered G. transvaalensis to be a nomen dubium. [3] Both G. taylori and G. transvaalensis were synonymized by Michael Cooper (1981) with M. carinatus [4] and Galton and Upchurch (2004) considered them to be dubious. [5]
Gryponyx was first named by Robert Broom in 1911 and the type species is Gryponyx africanus. The generic name is derived from grypos, Greek for "hooked" and onyx, Greek for "claw". The specific name refers to Africa, where the holotype was discovered. [1]
Anchisaurus is a genus of basal sauropodomorph dinosaur. It lived during the Early Jurassic Period, and its fossils have been found in the red sandstone of the Portland Formation, Northeastern United States, which was deposited from the Hettangian age into the Sinemurian age, between about 200 and 195 million years ago. Until recently it was classed as a member of Prosauropoda. The genus name Anchisaurus comes from the Greek αγχιanchi-; "near, close" + Greek σαυρος ; "lizard". Anchisaurus was coined as a replacement name for "Amphisaurus", which was itself a replacement name for Hitchcock's "Megadactylus", both of which had already been used for other animals.
Thecodontosaurus is a genus of herbivorous basal sauropodomorph dinosaur that lived during the late Triassic period.
Melanorosaurus is a genus of basal sauropodomorph dinosaur that lived during the Late Triassic period. A herbivore 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.
Massospondylus is 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.
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.
Euskelosaurus 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, and in one locality in Zimbabwe.
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.
Gyposaurus is a genus of basal sauropodomorph dinosaur from the early Jurassic of South Africa. It is usually considered to represent juveniles of other prosauropods, but "G." sinensis is regarded as a possibly valid species.
Hortalotarsus is a dubious genus of extinct sauropodomorph from Early Jurassic rocks of South Africa.
Orosaurus is a dubious genus of basal sauropodomorph from the Late Triassic of South Africa.
Plateosauravus is a basal plateosaurian of uncertain affinities from the Late Triassic Elliot Formation of South Africa.
Plateosauridae is a family of plateosaurian sauropodomorphs from the Late Triassic of Europe, Greenland, Africa and Asia. Although several dinosaurs have been classified as plateosaurids over the years, the family Plateosauridae is now restricted to Plateosaurus, Yimenosaurus, Euskelosaurus, and Issi. In another study, Yates (2003) sunk Sellosaurus into Plateosaurus.
Riojasauridae is an extinct family of sauropodomorph dinosaurs from the Late Triassic Period. It contains the genera Riojasaurus and Eucnemesaurus. The Riojasauridae is considered a stem taxon, and is defined as "the most inclusive clade containing Riojasaurus incertus but not Plateosaurus engelhardti, Massospondylus carinatus, or Anchisaurus polyzelus". Geologic formations containing riojasaurid fossils include the Lower Elliot Formation of Orange Free State, South Africa, and the Los Colorados Formation, in La Rioja Province, Argentina.
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. In 2019, a specimen previously assigned to Massospondylus from South Africa was re-examined and found to belong to a separate genus that was named Ngwevu.
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.
Plateosauria is a clade of sauropodomorph dinosaurs which lived during the Late Triassic to the Late Cretaceous. The name Plateosauria was first coined by Gustav Tornier in 1913. The name afterwards fell out of use until the 1980s.
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.
Ignavusaurus is a genus of basal sauropodomorph dinosaur that lived during the Early Jurassic in what is now Lesotho. Its fossils were found in the Upper Elliot Formation which is probably Hettangian in age. It was described on the basis of a partial, well preserved articulated skeleton. The type species, I. rachelis, was described in 2010 by Spanish palaeontologist F. Knoll.
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.
Ngwevu is a genus of massospondylid sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Lower Jurassic of South Africa. The genus contains one species, Ngwevu intloko.
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