Aardonyx celestae

Aardonyx is a sauropodomorph transitional between the prosauropods and the early sauropods such as Melanorosaurus.It was habitually bipedal but could also rest on all four. Its long narrow skull did apparently not have fleshy cheeks. Aardonyx lived in the early Jurassic in what is now South Africa and could have reached a length of 6-7 m or more (the discovered fossils belong to at least two immature individuals).

Name

Aardonyx celestae

Authority

Yates, Bonnan, Neveling, Chimsamy and Blackbird, 2010

Meaning of generic name

from aard (Afrikaans for ‘Earth’) and onyx (Greek for ‘claw’)

Meaning of specific name

Honoring Celeste Yates who prepared many of the bones.

Size

Length: 6 m, Skull length: 40 cm

Remains

Holotype (BP/1/6254): rostral half of the left maxilla.

Referred specimens: A large number of disarticulated bones from the same locality, including skull elements, vertebrae, ribs and limb elements.

Age and Distribution

Horizon: Upper Elliott Formation, Lower Jurassic.

Locality: Marc’s Quarry bone bed on the farm Spion Kop 932, Senekal District, Free State, South Africa.

Classification

Dinosauria Saurischia Sauropodomorpha Sauropoda Anchisauria

Further Reading

Yates, A. M., Bonnan, M. F., Neveling, J., Chinsamy, A. and Blackbeard, M. G. 2010. A new transitional sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of South Africa and the evolution of sauropod feeding and quadrupedalism. Proc. R. Soc. B. Published online before print Nov 11 2009. Abstract.

Image by Tobu Namura (click to enlarge)

Aardonyx celestae: