Summary
Plateosauravus ("grandfather of Plateosaurus") is a basal plateosaurian of uncertain affinities from the Late Triassic Elliot Formation of South Africa.
| Plateosauravus Temporal range: Norian
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|---|---|
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| Humerus | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | †Plateosauria |
| Genus: | †Plateosauravus von Huene 1932 |
| Species: | †P. cullingworthi
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| Binomial name | |
| †Plateosauravus cullingworthi (Sidney Haughton 1924 [originally Plateosaurus])
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Sidney Haughton named Plateosaurus cullingworthi in 1924 from a partial skeleton,[1] type specimen SAM 3341, 3345, 3347, 3350–51, 3603, 3607. The specific name honoured collector T.L. Cullingworth. Friedrich von Huene reassessed it in 1932 as belonging to a new genus, which he named Plateosauravus.[2] Jacques van Heerden reassigned it to Euskelosaurus in 1979, and this has been how it was usually considered.[3] However, recent study indicates that Euskelosaurus is based on undiagnostic material and thus a nomen dubium; in his series of sauropodomorph and basal sauropod papers, Adam Yates has recommended no longer using Euskelosaurus and has suggested the use of Plateosauravus instead.[4][5][6][original research?]
More than a dozen additional partial skeletons have been found in the Kruger National Park after a discovery by game warden Adriaan Louw on 27 March 1995. These include juvenile individuals.[7]
References edit
- ^ Haughton, S.H. (1924) "The fauna and stratigraphy of the Stormberg Series". Annals of the South African Museum 12:323-497.
- ^ von Huene, F. (1932). "Die fossile Reptil-Ordnung Saurischia, ihre Entwicklung und Geschichte". Monographien zur Geologie und Palaeontologie, series 1:4, 361 pp.
- ^ van Heerden, J. (1979). The morphology and taxonomy of Euskelosaurus (Reptilia: Saurischia; Late Triassic) from South Africa. Navorsinge van die Nasionale Museum 4(2):23-84.
- ^ Yates, A.M. (2003). A new species of the primitive dinosaur Thecodontosaurus (Saurischia: Sauropodomorpha) and its implications for the systematics of early dinosaurs. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 1(1):1-42
- ^ Yates, A.M., and Kitching, J.W. (2003). The earliest known sauropod dinosaur and the first steps towards sauropod locomotion. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 270(1525):1753-1758.
- ^ Yates, A.M. (2006). Solving a dinosaurian puzzle: the identity of Aliwalia rex Galton. Historical Biology, iFirst article, 1–30.
- ^ Durand, J.F. 2001. The oldest juvenile dinosaurs from Africa. African Earth Sciences 33:597–603.
External links edit
- Adam Yates on basal sauropodomorphs