Pantydraco Temporal range: Late Triassic, | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Life reconstruction | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Clade: | Saurischia |
Clade: | † Sauropodomorpha |
Genus: | † Pantydraco Galton et al., 2007 |
Species: | †P. caducus |
Binomial name | |
†Pantydraco caducus (Yates, 2003) Galton et al., 2007 | |
Synonyms | |
|
Pantydraco (where "panty-" is short for Pant-y-ffynnon, signifying hollow of the spring/well in Welsh, referring to the quarry at Bonvilston in South Wales where it was found) [1] is a genus of basal sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Late Triassic of the United Kingdom (Wales). It is based on a partial juvenile skeleton once thought to belong to Thecodontosaurus . Only one valid species of Pantydraco is recognised: P. caducus. [2]
Pantydraco was of moderate build. The creature had a long tail that tapered towards the end and was broad at the hip joint. It had a pointed head with a strong jaw. The forelimbs of the dinosaur were developed for grasping while the hindlimbs were adapted for supporting the creature's body weight. The center of mass lies near the pelvic bone, suggesting the creature was bipedal. The forelimbs were shorter than the hindlimbs. The hands had three movable digits while the fourth digit was embedded. It had well-developed claws. The juvenile fossils’ estimated height is from about 0.7 to 1 metre (2 ft 4 in to 3 ft 3 in). Adults are believed to have been about three metres (9 ft 10 in) long. The estimated weight for an average adult of this species of dinosaurs is about 50 kilograms (110 lb). Thus, the creature was fairly gracile. The teeth were well developed. [3]
In 2003, Adam Yates named the new species Thecodontosaurus caducus for BMNH P 24, a skull, a partial jawbone, and vertebrae of the cervix, an incomplete right pelvic bone, and partial forelimbs of an immature sauropodomorph that had been discovered in 1952 by Kermack and Robinson. [4] This material had been known in the scientific literature since 1983, and had been used to represent the genus Thecodontosaurus. [5] [6] However, changed understanding of the relationships and characteristics of basal sauropodomorphs (also known as prosauropods) has led Peter Galton, Yates, and D. Kermack to give T. caducus its own genus. [7] The genus was named after the Pant-y-ffynnon quarry where it was discovered.
Pantydraco takes its name from the "pant" of Pant-y-ffynnon quarry, meaning valley of the spring, and "draco" (a dragon or mythical dragon-like creature in Latin). This is because the quarry is located near Cowbridge in the Vale of Glamorgan, in Southern Wales, at the base of a mountain between two rivers. As 'y' means '(of) the' in Welsh, the genus name is somewhat grammatically incorrect. The species epithet, caducus, means "fallen" in Latin, referring to the assumption that it fell into a fissure fill (quarry) and died there. [4]
Pantydraco is considered to have most probably been omnivorous, being at the transition from carnivory to herbivory in the sauropodomorph lineage. It is probable that Pantydraco would have walked bipedally. [2]
The Pant-y-ffynnon region was a characteristic wetland during the Triassic. The area consists of alluvial silts deposited by the rivers and sand and limestone. The climate ranges from arid to semi-humid. [3]
Thecodontosaurus is a genus of herbivorous basal sauropodomorph dinosaur that lived during the late Triassic period.
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.
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.
Camelotia is a genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Late Triassic or Early Jurassic in what is now England. Paleontologists are divided on which family it may belong to; in the past, Camelotia has generally been assigned to the prosauropods, but this group of primitive dinosaurs is in constant flux. The genus is now considered a member of the family Melanorosauridae, which includes the first true giant herbivorous 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.
Gryponyx is an extinct genus of massopod sauropodomorph known from southern Free State, central South Africa.
Plateosauravus is a basal plateosaurian of uncertain affinities from the Late Triassic Elliot Formation of South Africa.
Efraasia is a genus of basal sauropodomorph dinosaur. It was a herbivore which lived during the middle Norian stage of the Late Triassic, around 210 million years ago, in what is now Germany. It was named in 1973 after Eberhard Fraas, who during the early twentieth century collected what were the original type specimens.
Palaeosaurus is a genus of indeterminate archosaur known from two teeth found in the Bromsgrove Sandstone Formation and also either the Magnesian Conglomerate or the Avon Fissure Fill of Clifton, Bristol, England. It has had a convoluted taxonomic history.
Ruehleia is a genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Late Triassic period of Germany. The type species is R. bedheimensis, described by Galton in 2001, and is named for the German paleontologist Hugo Rühle von Lilienstern. Discovered in 1952, the holotype consists of one nearly complete skeleton, including cervical (neck), dorsal (back), and caudal (tail) vertebrae; a partial sacrum; a scapulocoracoid; pelvic bones; most limb bones; and a partially complete manus (hands).
Poposaurus is an extinct genus of pseudosuchian archosaur from the Late Triassic of the southwestern United States. It belongs to the clade Poposauroidea, an unusual group of Triassic pseudosuchians that includes sail-backed, beaked, and aquatic forms. Fossils have been found in Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, and Texas. Except for the skull, most parts of the skeleton are known. The type species, P. gracilis, was described and named by Maurice Goldsmith Mehl in 1915. A second species, P. langstoni, was originally the type species of the genus Lythrosuchus. Since it was first described, Poposaurus has been variously classified as a dinosaur, a phytosaur, and a "rauisuchian".
Terrestrisuchus is an extinct genus of very small early crocodylomorph that was about 76 centimetres (30 in) long. Fossils have been found in Wales and Southern England and date from near the very end of the Late Triassic during the Rhaetian, and it is known by type and only known species T. gracilis. Terrestrisuchus was a long-legged, active predator that lived entirely on land, unlike modern crocodilians. It inhabited a chain of tropical, low-lying islands that made up southern Britain, along with similarly small-sized dinosaurs and abundant rhynchocephalians. Numerous fossils of Terrestrisuchus are known from fissures in limestone karst which made up the islands it lived on, which formed caverns and sinkholes that preserved the remains of Terrestrisuchus and other island-living reptiles.
Asylosaurus is a genus of basal sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Late Triassic Avon Fissure Fill of England. It is based on partial remains, discovered in the autumn of 1834, described in 1836 by Henry Riley and Samuel Stutchbury as pertaining to Thecodontosaurus, that Othniel Charles Marsh brought to Yale University between 1888 and 1890. These remains thus escaped destruction by a bombardment in 1940 during World War II, unlike the original holotype of Thecodontosaurus. Asylosaurus was described in 2007 by Peter Galton. The type species is A. yalensis, referring to Yale. The bones originally came from a Rhaetian-age cave fill at Durdham Down, Clifton, Bristol.
The Magnesian Conglomerate is a geological formation in Clifton, Bristol in England, Gloucestershire and southern Wales, present in Tytherington, Durdham Down, Slickstones Quarry and Cromhall Quarry.
Aardonyx is a genus of basal sauropodomorph dinosaur. It is known from the type species Aardonyx celestae found from the Early Jurassic Elliot Formation of South Africa. A. celestae was named after Celeste Yates, who prepared much of the first known fossil material of the species. It has arm features that are intermediate between basal sauropodomorphs and more derived sauropods.
Aenigmaspina is an extinct genus of enigmatic pseudosuchian (=crurotarsan) archosaur from the Late Triassic of the United Kingdom. Its fossils are known from the Pant-y-ffynnon Quarry in South Wales, of which its type and only known species is named after, A. pantyffynnonensis. Aenigmaspina is characterised by the unusual spines on its vertebrae, which are broad and flat on top with a unique 'Y' shape. Although parts of its skeleton is relatively well known, the affinities of Aenigmaspina to other pseudosuchians are unclear, although it is possibly related to families Ornithosuchidae, Erpetosuchidae or Gracilisuchidae.
Pendraig is a genus of coelophysoid theropod dinosaur from South Wales. It contains one species, Pendraig milnerae, named after Angela Milner. The specimen was discovered in the Pant-y-Ffynnon quarry. In life it would have measured 1 m (3.3 ft) in length.
Pant-y-Ffynnon Quarry is a stone quarry in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, around 3 kilometers east of Cowbridge. It contains fissure fill deposits dating to the Late Triassic (Rhaetian), hosted within karsts of Carboniferous aged limestone, primarily the Friars Point Limestone Formation. Remains of numerous small vertebrates, notably archosaurs, are known from the fissure fills in the quarry, similar to other Late Triassic-Early Jurassic fissure fill deposits known from Southwest England and southern Wales.
Palaeontology in Wales is palaeontological research occurring in Wales.
Mbiresaurus is an extinct genus of basal sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Late Triassic (Carnian) Pebbly Arkose Formation of Zimbabwe. The genus contains a single species, Mbiresaurus raathi, known from a nearly complete skeleton. Mbiresaurus represents one of Africa’s earliest known definitive dinosaurs.