Prosauropoda

Prosauropoda
Obsolete systematic group The taxon dealt with here is not part of the systematics presented in the German-language Wikipedia. More information can be found in the article text.
Skeleton reconstruction of Plateosaurus engelhardti from Trossingen (copy number AMNH 6810) in the American Museum of Natural History in New York
Temporal occurrence
Upper Triassic to Lower Jurassic ( Carnian to Toarcian )
235 to 174.1 million years
Locations
Worldwide
Systematics
Archosauria Ornithodira Dinosaur (dinosauria) Lizard dinosaur (Saurischia) Sauropodomorpha Paraphyletic taxon : Prosauropoda
Scientific name
Prosauropoda
Huene , 1920

The "Prosauropoda" are a group of herbivorous , medium-sized and large lizard-basin dinosaurs whose fossil record ranges from the early Upper Triassic to the late Lower Jurassic ( Carnian to Toarcian ).

With the increasing application of cladistic methods in dinosaurology, there were increasing indications that the "Prosauropoda" do not form a natural (closed) family group ( Monophylum ), but that they comprise a number of groups on the lineage of the Sauropoda ( Paraphylum ). Thus, the term "Prosauropoda" should always be put in quotation marks.

Characteristics and paleobiology

The skull of a prosauropod (here Massospondylus ) has - in each case typical for archosaurs - in addition to the three skull windows in the cranium , a mandibular window in the lower jaw.

As the first herbivorous dinosaurs, they were very common and widespread worldwide and were the dominant land-dwelling terrestrial vertebrates in their time . In contrast to the later sauropods , they were still largely biped , but there were also quadruped species such as Riojasaurus incertus . They were 2.5 to 10 meters long and weighed up to four tons. Much knowledge about the morphology of these animals comes from the numerous finds of Plateosaurus engelhardti . The heads of the prosauropods were small and had many smaller teeth. The dentition clearly shows that prosauropods were herbivorous. In the younger forms, the long cervical spine already showed transitional forms to that of the sauropods, such as strut-like lamellae under the transverse processes of the vertebrae. The long and strong tail was the origin of the thigh muscles in its front third . The forelegs were much weaker than the legs, another sign of bipedia. The fingers and toes were clenched. A greatly enlarged, flattened and curved thumb claw probably had a defensive function.

From the mass accumulations of prosauropod fossils , especially of Plateosaurus engelhardti , it is often concluded that at least some prosauropod species were herd animals . However, it is also possible that such bone accumulations have developed over longer periods of time, in that individually wandering animals got stuck in the same mud hole and died there.

Internal system

Tribal historical position of the prosauropods with the example of Plateosaurus

older classification:

• "Prosauropoda"
  • Ruehlia  ?
  • Saturnalia
  • Thecodontosaurus
  • Yimenosaurus  ?
  • Anchisauria
    • Anchisauridae
      • Aardonyx
      • Ammosaurus
      • Anchisaurus
    • Melanorosauridae
      • Camelotia
      • Lessemsaurus
      • Melanorosaurus
      • Riojasaurus
  • Plateosauria
    • Coloradisaurus
    • Euskelosaurus
    • " Gyposaurus "
    • Jingshanosaurus
    • Lufengosaurus
    • Massospondylus
    • Mussaurus
    • Plateosaurus
    • Unaysaurus
    • Yunnanosaurus

According to Yates (2010), all taxa from Efraasia to Sauropoda are counted as prosauropods .

Sauropodomorpha	Saturnalia      Thecodontosaurus      Pantydraco      Efraasia     Plateosauravus   Plateosauria    Ruehleia   Plateosauridae    Unaysaurus      Plateosaurus      Riojasauridae      Massospondylidae      Jingshanosaurus      Anchisauria (including sauropoda )

swell

literature

• David B. Weishampel , Peter Dodson , Halszka Osmólska (eds.): The Dinosauria . 2nd edition. University of California Press, Berkeley CA et al. 2004, ISBN 0-520-24209-2 .
• Reinhard Rieger , Wilfried Westheide (ed.): Special zoology. Part 2: vertebrates or skulls. Gustav Fischer, Stuttgart et al. 2004, ISBN 3-8274-0900-4 .

Individual evidence

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. 64, 162-171.
2. ^ ^{A b} Adam M. Yates: A revision of the problematic sauropodomorph dinosaurs from Manchester, Connecticut and the status of Anchisaurus Marsh. In: Palaeontology. Vol. 53, No. 4, 2010, pp. 739-752, doi : 10.1111 / j.1475-4983.2010.00952.x .
3. ^ Adam M. Yates, Matthew F. Bonnan, Johann Neveling, Anusuya Chinsamy, Marc G. Blackbeard: A new transitional sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of South Africa and the evolution of sauropod feeding and quadrupedalism. In: Proceedings of the Royal Society. Series B: Biological Sciences. Vol. 277. No. 1682, 2010, pp. 787-794, doi : 10.1098 / rspb.2009.1440 .
4. ↑ Luciano A. Leal, Sergio AK Azevodo, Alexander WA Kellner, Átila AS da Rosa: A new early dinosaur (Sauropodomorpha) from the Caturrita Formation (Late Triassic), Paraná Basin, Brazil (= Zootaxa . 690). Magnolia Press, Auckland 2004, abstract online (PDF; 12 kB) .

Web links

Commons : Plateosauridae  - Collection of images, videos and audio files