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Prosauropods
Sauropodomorpha ( ; from Greek, meaning "lizard-footed forms") 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 primitive sauropodomorphs which preceded the sauropods, and are informally called prosauropods, 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 (approximately 230 Ma) until their decline and extinction at the end of the Cretaceous. History of study Early study Gigantic bones of sauropods have been known for thousands of years and become part of legends and cultures but the beginning of their scientific study was in the 1830s. Most of the early taxonomy was based on incomplete and disarticulated mater ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Massopoda
Sauropodomorpha ( ; from Greek, meaning "lizard-footed forms") is an extinct clade of long-necked, herbivorous, saurischian dinosaurs that includes the Sauropoda, 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 primitive sauropodomorphs which preceded the sauropods, and are informally called prosauropods, 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 (approximately 230 Myr, Ma) until their decline and extinction at the end of the Cretaceous. History of study Early study Gigantic bones of sauropods have been known for thousands of years and become part of legends and cultures but the beginning of their scientific study was in the 1830s. Most of the early taxonomy was based on incomplete and disarti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plateosaurus
''Plateosaurus'' (probably meaning "broad lizard", often mistranslated as "flat lizard") is a genus of plateosaurid dinosaur that lived during the Late Triassic period, around 214 to 204 million years ago, in what is now Central and Northern Europe. ''Plateosaurus'' is a basal (early) sauropodomorph dinosaur, a so-called "prosauropod". The type species is ''Plateosaurus trossingensis''; before 2019, that honor was given to ''Plateosaurus engelhardti'', but it was ruled as undiagnostic (i.e. indistinguishable from other dinosaurs) by the ICZN. Currently, there are three valid species; in addition to ''P. trossingensis'', ''P. longiceps'' and ''P. gracilis'' are also known. However, others have been assigned in the past, and there is no broad consensus on the species taxonomy of plateosaurid dinosaurs. Similarly, there are a plethora of synonyms (invalid duplicate names) at the genus level. Discovered in 1834 by Johann Friedrich Engelhardt and described three years later by Her ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Efraasia
''Efraasia'' (pronounced "E-FRAHS-ee-A") is a genus of basal (phylogenetics), 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 holotype, type specimens. The specimens were at first assigned to three already existing genera and so became divided among three separate species: ''Teratosaurus minor'', ''Sellosaurus fraasi'' and ''Paleosaurus diagnosticus''. In 2003 these were combined into a single valid species: ''Efraasia minor''. ''Efraasia'' was a lightly built, medium-sized sauropodomorph, about long. Discovery and naming ''Efraasia'' has had a complicated Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic history involving several genera and species. Material now known under ''Efraasia'' first came to light after Albert Burrer, ''Hofsteinmetzmeister'' ("Court ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apatosaurus
''Apatosaurus'' (; meaning "deceptive lizard") is a genus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Jurassic period. Othniel Charles Marsh described and named the first-known species, ''A. ajax'', in 1877, and a second species, ''A. louisae'', was discovered and named by William H. Holland in 1916. ''Apatosaurus'' lived about 152 to 151 million years ago (mya), during the late Kimmeridgian to early Tithonian age, and are now known from fossils in the Morrison Formation of modern-day Colorado, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Wyoming, and Utah in the United States. ''Apatosaurus'' had an average length of , and an average mass of . A few specimens indicate a maximum length of 11–30% greater than average and a mass of approximately . The cervical vertebrae of ''Apatosaurus'' are less elongated and more heavily constructed than those of '' Diplodocus'', a diplodocid like ''Apatosaurus'', and the bones of the leg are much stockier despite being longer, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gustav Tornier
Gustav Tornier ( Dombrowken (today Dąbrowa Chełmińska, Poland), 9 May 1858 – Berlin, 25 April 1938) was a German zoologist and herpetologist. Life and career Tornier was born in the Kingdom of Prussia as the eldest child of Gottlob Adolf Tornier, a member of the Prussian landed gentry in Dombrowken, a village near Bromberg (now Bydgoszcz) in West Prussia. His father and mother had both died by 1877, leaving the nineteen-year-old Gustav as the master of a house and estate. The attached commitments kept him from commencing his university studies until the relatively advanced age of twenty-four. Enrolling at the university of Heidelberg in 1882, Tornier took his time, and he did not receive his doctorate for another ten years. In the meantime he wrote a monograph on evolution in support of Wilhelm Roux, ''Der Kampf mit der Nahrung'' ("The battle with/for Food", 1884). In the book, he took an uncompromisingly Darwinist stance, and applied the principles of natural selection an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gongxianosaurus
''Gongxianosaurus'' is a genus of basal sauropod dinosaur from the early Jurassic Period (Sinemurian- Pliensbachian stage). The only species is ''Gongxianosaurus shibeiensis''. Based on four fragmentary to complete specimens found in the Ziliujing Formation, China ( Sichuan Province), it is one of the most completely known early sauropods. The skeleton is known in large part, missing both the hand and the majority of the skull. ''Gongxianosaurus'' was firstly named and described in a short note published in 1998; however, a comprehensive description has yet to be published. ''Gongxianosaurus shibeiensis'' was named for the place it was found, near the village Shibei in Gong County (珙县; Pinyin: Gǒng Xiàn). Description ''Gongxianosaurus'' may have reached in length. Like other sauropods, it moved quadrupedally (on four legs), as indicated by the elongated fore limbs that reached 70 to 75% of hind limb length. The pedal phalanges were short and robust, as typical for sa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chuxiongosaurus
''Chuxiongosaurus'' (meaning "Chuxiong lizard") is a genus of basal sauropodomorph dinosaur which lived during the Early Jurassic Period. Fossils of this genus have been found in the Lower Lufeng Formation, Yunnan Province, southern China. Identified from the holotype CMY LT9401 a nearly complete skull (including a lower jaw) with some similarities to ''Thecodontosaurus'', it was described as the "first basal sauropod dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of China," more basal than '' Anchisaurus''. It was named by Lü Junchang, Yoshitsugu Kobayashi, Li Tianguang and Zhong Shimin in 2010, and the type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ... is ''Chuxiongosaurus lufengensis''. It is a possible junior synonym of '' Jingshanosaurus''. References Massopoda Dinosa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blikanasaurus
''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 in . 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 attributed to ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Incertae Sedis
or is a term used for a taxonomy (biology), taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertainty at specific taxonomic levels is indicated by (of uncertain family), (of uncertain suborder), (of uncertain order) and similar terms. Examples * The fossil plant ''Paradinandra, Paradinandra suecica'' could not be assigned to any family, but was placed ''incertae sedis'' within the order Ericales when described in 2001. * The fossil ''Gluteus minimus (fossil), Gluteus minimus'', described in 1975, could not be assigned to any known animal phylum. The genus is therefore ''incertae sedis'' within the kingdom Animalia. * While it was unclear to which order the New World vultures (family Cathartidae) should be assigned, they were placed in Aves ''incertae sedis''. It was later agreed to place them in a separate order, Cathartiformes. * Boc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Riojasauridae
Riojasauridae is an extinct family of sauropodomorph dinosaurs from the Late Triassic Period (late Carnian to Norian Ages). 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 (where fossils of ''Eucnemesaurus'' have been found), and the Los Colorados Formation, in La Rioja Province, Argentina (where fossils of ''Riojasaurus'' have been recovered). Evolutionary relationships The Riojasauridae are considered to be sauropodomorphs, but not sauropods themselves. This means that they were generally much smaller than the Sauropods of the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods, and members of this family may not have been obligate quadru ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Massospondylidae
Massospondylidae is a family (biology), family of early massopod dinosaurs that existed in Asia, Africa, North America, South America and AntarcticaHellert, Spencer M. "A New Basal Sauropodomorph from The Early Jurassic Hanson Formation of Antarctica." Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs,. Vol. 44. No. 5. 2012. 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 oppos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sarahsaurus
''Sarahsaurus'' is a genus of basal (phylogenetics), basal sauropodomorph dinosaur which lived during the Early Jurassic period in what is now northeastern Arizona, United States. Discovery and naming All specimens of ''Sarahsaurus'' were collected from the Lower Jurassic Kayenta Formation near Gold Spring, Arizona. The genus is based on a nearly complete and articulated (with bones still connected to each other) skeleton with a fragmentary and disarticulated skull (holotype, specimen number TMM 43646-2). In addition, a partial skeleton (specimen number TMM 43646-3) as well as a nearly complete skull (specimen number Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, MCZ 8893) was assigned to the genus. The latter specimen was originally referred to as ''Massospondylus'' sp. The complete skull is crushed and split horizontally, separating the skull roof from the palate; this split was caused by periodic swelling and shrinkage of the surrounding clay after deposition (geology), burial. While ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
