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Blikanasaurus Cromptoni
''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. History of discovery ''Blikanasaurus'' was first discovered by a partial hindlimb (epipodium and pes) found in the lower Elliot Formation (LEF) at the foot of Blikana mountain in Herschel, Eastern Cape of South Africa around 1965. In the early 2000s, a second specimen - consisting of only a right metatarsal - was recovered from lower Elliot Formation deposits on the farm, Damplaats, in Ladybrand of the eastern Free State. A possible ilium that has been att ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Triassic
The Late Triassic is the third and final epoch (geology), epoch of the Triassic geologic time scale, Period in the geologic time scale, spanning the time between annum, Ma and Ma (million years ago). It is preceded by the Middle Triassic Epoch and followed by the Early Jurassic Epoch. The corresponding series (stratigraphy), series of rock beds is known as the Upper Triassic. The Late Triassic is divided into the Carnian, Norian and Rhaetian Geologic time scale, Ages. Many of the first dinosaurs evolved during the Late Triassic, including ''Plateosaurus'', ''Coelophysis'', and ''Eoraptor''. The Triassic–Jurassic extinction event began during this epoch and is one of the five major mass extinction events of the Earth. Etymology The Triassic was named in 1834 by Friedrich August von Namoh, Friedrich von Alberti, after a succession of three distinct rock layers (Greek meaning 'triad') that are widespread in southern Germany: the lower Buntsandstein (colourful sandstone'')'', t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Synapomorphy And Apomorphy
In phylogenetics, an apomorphy (or derived trait) is a novel character or character state that has evolved from its ancestral form (or plesiomorphy). A synapomorphy is an apomorphy shared by two or more taxa and is therefore hypothesized to have evolved in their most recent common ancestor. ) In cladistics, synapomorphy implies homology. Examples of apomorphy are the presence of erect gait, fur, the evolution of three middle ear bones, and mammary glands in mammals but not in other vertebrate animals such as amphibians or reptiles, which have retained their ancestral traits of a sprawling gait and lack of fur. Thus, these derived traits are also synapomorphies of mammals in general as they are not shared by other vertebrate animals. Etymology The word —coined by German entomologist Willi Hennig—is derived from the Ancient Greek words (''sún''), meaning "with, together"; (''apó''), meaning "away from"; and (''morphḗ''), meaning "shape, form". Clade analys ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lessemsauridae
Lessemsauridae is a clade of early sauropodiform dinosaurs that lived in the Triassic and Jurassic of Argentina, South Africa and possibly Lesotho. A phylogenetic analysis performed by Apaldetti and colleagues in 2018 recovered a new clade of sauropodiforms uniting '' Lessemsaurus'', ''Antetonitrus'', and ''Ingentia'' which they named Lessemsauridae. It is a node-based taxon, defined as all descendants of the most recent common ancestor of ''Lessemsaurus sauropoides'' and ''Antetonitrus ingenipes''. Depending on the definition of Sauropoda, Lessemsauridae is either one of the most basal sauropod taxa, or a sister taxon of Sauropoda. An additional member of the clade was named later in 2018, ''Ledumahadi''. A 2021 study by Pol and colleagues also assigned the genera ''Kholumolumo'' and ''Meroktenos'' to the group. Lessemsaurids are recognised as very large quadrupeds that achieved giant sizes (up to 12 metric tons) independently of other giant sauropodomorphs. They had highly pne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melanorosaurus
''Melanorosaurus'' (meaning "Black Mountain Lizard", from the Greek ''melas/'', "black", ''oros/'', "mountain" + ''/'', "lizard") 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. 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. ''Melanorosaurus'' was around long, with a weight of . Discovery and species The type specimens, syntypes SAM 3449 and SAM 3450, were discovered, described and named in 1924 by Sidney H. Haughton. They were collected from the Triassic Lower ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Camelotia
''Camelotia'' (meaning "from Camelot") 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.Galton, P. M. (1985). Notes on the Melanorosauridae, a family of large prosauropod dinosaurs (Saurischia: Sauropodomorpha). Geobios, 18(5), 671-676. Discovery and species The type specimens, syntypes SAM 3449 and SAM 3450, were described and named in 1985 by Galton. They were collected from the Triassic-Jurassic Westbury Formation, dating to the latest Rhaetian-Lowermost Hettangian. The fossils includes the specimens "BMNH R2870-R2874", "R2876-R2878" (holotype), with vertebrae, ribs, and parts of the pubis, isc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melanorosauridae
The Melanorosauridae were a family of sauropodomorph dinosaurs which lived during the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic. The name Melanorosauridae was first coined by Friedrich von Huene in 1929. Huene assigned several families of dinosaurs to the infraorder "Prosauropoda": the Anchisauridae, the Plateosauridae, the Thecodontosauridae, and the Melanorosauridae. Since then, these families have undergone numerous revisions. Galton and Upchurch (2004) considered '' Camelotia'', ''Lessemsaurus'', and ''Melanorosaurus'' members of the family Melanorosauridae. A more recent study by Yates (2007) indicates that the melanorosaurids were instead early sauropod Sauropoda (), whose members are known as sauropods (; from '' sauro-'' + '' -pod'', 'lizard-footed'), is a clade of saurischian ('lizard-hipped') dinosaurs. Sauropods had very long necks, long tails, small heads (relative to the rest of their ...s. References * Galton, P.M & Upchurch, P. (2004). "Prosauropoda". In D. B. Weisham ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sefapanosaurus
''Sefapanosaurus'' was an early, herbivorous sauropodomorph dinosaur occurring in the southern regions of Gondwana some 200 million years ago in the Late Triassic or Early Jurassic. The sauropodomorphs were the dominant terrestrial herbivores throughout much of the Mesozoic Era, from their origins in the mid-Triassic (approximately 230 Ma) until their decline and fall at the end of the Cretaceous (approximately 66 Ma). A distinctive feature of this dinosaur is the cross-shaped astragalus or talus bone in its ankle. The generic name is derived from the Sesotho word ''sefapano'', meaning ‘cross’ and the Greek word ''saurus'', meaning 'lizard'. The specific name refers to Zastron, the type locality, where the specimen was discovered. History of study This new genus was described in the 23 June 2015 issue of 'Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society' in an essay titled 'A new basal sauropodiform from South Africa and the phylogenetic relationships of basal sauropodomorphs'. A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aardonyx
''Aardonyx'' (Afrikaans ''aard'', "earth" + Greek , "nail, claw") 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 prosauropods and sauropods. Based on the structure of the hind limbs and pelvic girdle of ''Aardonyx'', the dinosaur normally moved bipedally but could drop to quadrupedal movement similar to ''Iguanodon''. It shares some attributes with giant quadrupedal sauropods like ''Apatosaurus''.Associated Press (November 11, 2009)Scientists: New dinosaur species found in South AfricaNPR. Australian paleontologist Adam Yates and his team's discovery of the genus was published online before print in ''Proceedings of the Royal Society B'' in November 2009, and was scheduled to appear in the March 2010 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mussaurus
''Mussaurus'' (meaning "mouse lizard") is a genus of herbivorous sauropodomorph dinosaur that lived in southern Argentina during the Early Jurassic, with a maximum age of 192.78 ± 0.14 Ma. It receives its name from the small size of the skeletons of juvenile and infant individuals, which were once the only known specimens of the genus. However, since ''Mussaurus'' is now known from adult specimens, the name is something of a misnomer; adults possibly reached in length and weighed more than . ''Mussaurus'' possesses anatomical features suggesting a close, possibly transitional evolutionary relationship with true sauropods. Discovery Infant and juvenile fossils of ''Mussaurus'' were first discovered by an expedition led by Jose Bonaparte during the 1970s to the Laguna Colorada Formation."Mussaurus." In: Dodson, Peter & Britt, Brooks & Carpenter, Kenneth & Forster, Catherine A. & Gillette, David D. & Norell, Mark A. & Olshevsky, George & Parrish, J. Michael & Weishampel, Da ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sauropodiformes
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''. The name Massopoda, ; , is also contraction of Massospondylidae and Sauropoda, two disparate taxa in the clade. Classification Yates assigned the Massopoda to Plateosauria. Within the clade, he assigned the families Massospondylidae (which includes the relatively well-known dinosaur ''Massospondylus'') and Riojasauridae (which includes ''Riojasaurus'') as well as the Sauropoda. The following is a cladogram A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Systematics
Biological systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: cladograms, phylogenetic trees, phylogenies). Phylogenies have two components: branching order (showing group relationships) and branch length (showing amount of evolution). Phylogenetic trees of species and higher taxa are used to study the evolution of traits (e.g., anatomical or molecular characteristics) and the distribution of organisms ( biogeography). Systematics, in other words, is used to understand the evolutionary history of life on Earth. The word systematics is derived from the Latin word ''systema,'' which means systematic arrangement of organisms. Carl Linnaeus used 'Systema Naturae' as the title of his book. Branches and applications In the study of biological systematics, researchers use the different branches to further understand the relations ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blikanasauridae
''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. History of discovery ''Blikanasaurus'' was first discovered by a partial hindlimb (epipodium and pes) found in the lower Elliot Formation (LEF) at the foot of Blikana mountain in Herschel, Eastern Cape of South Africa around 1965. In the early 2000s, a second specimen - consisting of only a right metatarsal - was recovered from lower Elliot Formation deposits on the farm, Damplaats, in Ladybrand of the eastern Free State. A possible ilium that has been att ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
