| Megacnemus Temporal range: Middle Triassic, | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Archosauromorpha |
| Genus: | † Megacnemus Huene, 1954 |
| Species | |
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Megacnemus is an extinct genus of archosauromorph reptile. Megacnemus is an enigmatic and poorly described genus, known from a single bone. The type species of Megacnemus, Megacnemus grandis, was named by Friedrich von Huene in 1954. The holotype of Megacnemus (GPIMUH 253) is a limb bone, believed to be a femur. Although the exact locality from which this bone was unearthed is unknown, it is believed to have come from Middle Triassic deposits near Gogolin, in southwest Poland. [1] As the bone is more than 20 centimeters long, Megacnemus may have been quite large, similar to Vritraminosaurus in size. [2]
The purported femur differs from those of other basal archosauromorphs in the fact that it is quite robust and straight, contrasting with the more sigmoidally curved femurs of Protorosaurus , Macrocnemus , and tanystropheids. However, it does share some similarities with the humeri of Dinocephalosaurus and Macrocnemus, such as expanded distal and proximal ends, a straight preaxial edge, and a concave postaxial edge, although the ends of the bone are less rounded than those of these taxa. The bone also resembles the humerus of Boreopricea , although it is more flattened. [1]
