- I
- Name
- Massospondylus carinatus
- Authority
- Owen, 1854
- Meaning of generic name
- "Longer vertebra"
- Size
- Length: 4 m, Skull length:
- Remains
- Holotype: partial skeleton
Referred specimens: remains of some 80 individuals from juvenile to adults. - Age and Distribution
- Horizon: Upper Elliot Formation, Clarence Formation; Zoutpansberg Member of the Bushveld Sandstone; Forest Sandstone. Lower Jurassic (Hettangien-Plienbaschian)
Locality: Orange Free State, Cape province, S. Africa; Transvaal, S. Africa; Leribe, Quthing, Lesotho; Matabeleland, North, Zimbabwe. - Classification
- Dinosauria Saurischia Sauropodomorpha Prosauropoda Massospondylidae
- Further Reading
- R. Owen. 1854. Descriptive catalogue of the Fossil organic remains of Reptilia and Pisces contained in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. London 1-184.
J. Attridge, A. W. Crompton, and F. A. Jenkins, Jr. 1985. The southern African Liassic prosauropod Massospondylus discovered in North America. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 5(2):128-132 - Synonyms
- Plateosaurus carinatus (Owen, 1854) Paul, 1988; Leptospondylus capensis Owen, 1854 (nomen dubium); Pachyspondylus orpenii Owen, 1854 (nomen dubium); Hortalotarsus skirtopodus Seeley, 1894; Gyposaurus skirtopodus (Seeley, 1894); Thecodontosaurus skirtopodus (Seeley, 1894); Massospondylus browni Seeley, 1895; Thecodontosaurus browni (Seeley, 1895); Massospondylus harriesi Broom, 1911; Aetonyx palustris Broom, 1911; Gryponyx transvaalensis Broom, 1912 (nomen dubium); Aristosaurus erectus Hoepen, 1920; Gyposaurus erectus Hoepen, 1920; Dromicosaurus gracilis Hoepen, 1920; Gryponyx taylori Haughton, 1924 (nomen dubium); Massospondylus schwarzi Haughton, 1924 (nomen dubium); Thecodontosaurus dubius Haughton, 1924; Thecodontosaurus minor Haughton, 1924 non Haughton, 1918
- Images by Tobu Namura (click to enlarge)
Massospondylus carinatus: Juvenile Massospondylus carinatus: - II
- Name
- Massospondylus kaalae.
- Authority
- Barrett, 2009
- Meaning of specific name
- After Mrs Sheena Kaal, collections manager for the Karoo vertebrates at the Iziko South African Museum
- Size
- Length: 4 m, Skull length:
[Skull length, precisely, is not given!] - Remains
- Holotype (SAM-PK-K1325): incomplete skull.
[Skull is all we have!] - Age and Distribution
- Horizon: Upper Elliot Formation, Lower Jurassic (Sinemurian-Plienbaschian)
Locality: Herschel District, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. - Further Reading
- Barrett, P. M. 2009. A new basal sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Upper Elliot Formation (Lower Jurassic) of South Africa. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 29 (4): 1032-1045
Thursday, 28 November 2013
Massospondylus
Massospondylus was a prosauropod from the Early Jurassic of South Africa. It was depicted as quadrupedal but a 2007 study indicated that it was bipedal. Two species are recognized: M. carinatus and M. kaalae, both from South Africa. Prosauropods remains found in Arizona, Argentina and India have been attributed to Massospondylus but they belong to different genera.
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