Melanorosaurus

Melanorosaurus
	Live reconstruction of the Melanorosaurus
Temporal occurrence
	Upper Triassic (early Norium )
	228 to 217.4 million years
Locations
	South Africa;
Systematics
	Lizard dinosaur (Saurischia)
	Sauropodomorpha
	Plateosauria
	Anchisauria
	Melanorosauridae
	Melanorosaurus
Scientific name
	Melanorosaurus
	Haughton , 1924
species
	Melanorosaurus readi; Melanorosaurus thabanensis;

Melanorosaurus ( black mountain lizard , from Greek μελανο-ορος-σαυρος (melano-oros-saurus) ) was a herbivorous dinosaur from the Plateosauria group . He lived in the Upper Triassic (early Norian ) about 228 to 217 million years ago.

The first description of this genus was in 1924 by Sidney Henry Haughton , after skullless remains (Postkrania) were found on the northern slope of Thaba 'Nyama in Transkei , South Africa . A complete skull was only discovered and described in 2007.

So far, two types of Melanorosaurus are known : Melanorosaurus thabanensis and Melanorosaurus readi , the latter being the type species . The finds come stratigraphically from the layers of the Elliot Formation , an important fossil site in South Africa.

description

Melanorosaurus could grow up to 12 meters long. His large body and legs were very sturdy. One inferred from this that he moved on four legs. As with most sauropods , its vertebrae had air-filled chambers (pneumatized) to save weight.

The skull was about ten inches long and tapered to a triangle shape in front. The intermaxillary bone was equipped with four teeth on each side, this is a feature of all primitive sauropodomorphs . The upper jaw also had 19 teeth on each side.

classification

So far, one counted Melanorosaurus to the group of prosauropods. However, based on the latest research results, it is now one of the early sauropods .

literature

Peter M. Galton , Jacques Van Heerden, Adam M. Yates: Postcranial Anatomy of referred Specimens of the Sauropodomorph Dinosaur Melanorosaurus from the Upper Triassic of South Africa. In: Virginia Tidwell, Kenneth Carpenter (Eds.): Thunder-lizards. The Sauropodomorph Dinosaurs. Indiana University Press, Bloomington IN et al. 2005, ISBN 0-253-34542-1 , pp. 1-37.

Individual evidence

^ Gregory S. Paul : The Princeton Field Guide To Dinosaurs. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ et al. 2010, ISBN 978-0-691-13720-9 , pp. 170-171, online .
^ ^A ^b Adam M. Yates: The first complete skull of the Triassic dinosaur Melanorosaurus Haughton (Sauropodomorpha: Anchisauria). In: Paul M. Barrett , David J. Batten (Eds.): Evolution and Palaeobiology of Early Sauropodomorph Dinosaurs (= Special Papers in Palaeontology. Vol. 77). The Palaeontological Association, London 2007, ISBN 978-1-4051-6933-2 , pp. 9-55.

[1] Gregory S. Paul : The Princeton Field Guide To Dinosaurs. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ et al. 2010, ISBN 978-0-691-13720-9 , pp. 170-171, online .

[Yates-2] A ^b Adam M. Yates: The first complete skull of the Triassic dinosaur Melanorosaurus Haughton (Sauropodomorpha: Anchisauria). In: Paul M. Barrett , David J. Batten (Eds.): Evolution and Palaeobiology of Early Sauropodomorph Dinosaurs (= Special Papers in Palaeontology. Vol. 77). The Palaeontological Association, London 2007, ISBN 978-1-4051-6933-2 , pp. 9-55.