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Tazoudasaurus
''Tazoudasaurus'' is a genus of vulcanodontidae, vulcanodontid sauropod dinosaurs hailing from the Early Jurassic, located in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco in North Africa. Along with ''Ohmdenosaurus'' is one of the two formally described sauropods from the Toarcian of the Northern Hemisphere. Discovery The remains, consisting of the holotype, a partial adult skeleton (specimen To 2000–1) and associated partial juvenile skeleton (specimen To 2000-2) found in continental detrital sediments of the Toarcian aged Azilal Formation, were discovered in the early 2000s and were described by Ronan Allain ''et al.'' in early 2004. The generic name derives from one of the localities, Tazouda, while the specific name (zoology), specific descriptor is a latinization of the Berber languages, Berber term for "slender" due to the animal's small size for a sauropod. Its fossil was found alongside that of ''Berberosaurus'' and an indeterminate large theropod. Description ''Tazoudasaurus' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tazoudasaurus Scale
''Tazoudasaurus'' is a genus of vulcanodontidae, vulcanodontid sauropod dinosaurs hailing from the Early Jurassic, located in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco in North Africa. Along with ''Ohmdenosaurus'' is one of the two formally described sauropods from the Toarcian of the Northern Hemisphere. Discovery The remains, consisting of the holotype, a partial adult skeleton (specimen To 2000–1) and associated partial juvenile skeleton (specimen To 2000-2) found in continental detrital sediments of the Toarcian aged Azilal Formation, were discovered in the early 2000s and were described by Ronan Allain ''et al.'' in early 2004. The generic name derives from one of the localities, Tazouda, while the specific name (zoology), specific descriptor is a latinization of the Berber languages, Berber term for "slender" due to the animal's small size for a sauropod. Its fossil was found alongside that of ''Berberosaurus'' and an indeterminate large theropod. Description ''Tazoudasaurus' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vulcanodon
''Vulcanodon'' (meaning "volcano tooth") is an extinct genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of southern Africa. The only known species is ''V. karibaensis''. Discovered in 1969 in Zimbabwe, it was regarded as the earliest-known sauropod for decades, and is still one of the most primitive sauropods that has been discovered. As a quadrupedal, ground-dwelling herbivore, ''Vulcanodon'' already showed the typical sauropod body plan with column-like legs and a long neck and tail. It was smaller than most other sauropods, measuring approximately in length. ''Vulcanodon'' is known from a fragmentary skeleton including much of the pelvic girdle, hindlimbs, forearms, and tail, but lacking the trunk and neck vertebrae as well as the skull. Originally, this genus was believed to be a prosauropod because of the knife-shaped teeth found near its fossils, which fit in with the idea that prosauropods were omnivorous. Scientists now know that the teeth belonged to an unidentified ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Azilal Formation
The Azilal Formation (historically Toundute Continental Series and Wazzant Formation)Known wholly in the past by the current sub-unit terms ''Toundute Continental Series'' and ''The Wazzant Formation'' is a geological unit in the Azilal and Ouarzazate provinces of the High Atlas mountains of Morocco. It covers the Latest Pliensbachian to early Aalenian stages of the Jurassic period. It is a terrestrial deposit that overlies marine dolomites of equivalent age to the Budoš Limestone of Montenegro or the Marne di Monte Serrone of Italy. Dinosaur remains, such as the sauropod ''Tazoudasaurus'' and the basal ceratosaur ''Berberosaurus'' are known from the unit, along with several undescribed genera. The units in the group have been considered individual in the past, a division of the so-called "couches rouges" (red layers), and subdivided by a supposed geological scale. The strata of the group extend toward the Central High Atlas, covering different anticlines and topographic accide ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aardonyx
''Aardonyx'' (Afrikaans ''aard'', "earth" + Greek , "nail, claw") is a genus of basal sauropodomorph dinosaur. It is known from the type species ''Aardonyx celestae'' found from the Early Jurassic Elliot Formation of South Africa. ''A. celestae'' was named after Celeste Yates, who prepared much of the first known fossil material of the species. It has arm features that are intermediate between prosauropods and sauropods. Based on the structure of the hind limbs and pelvic girdle of ''Aardonyx'', the dinosaur normally moved bipedally but could drop to quadrupedal movement similar to ''Iguanodon''. It shares some attributes with giant quadrupedal sauropods like ''Apatosaurus''.Associated Press (November 11, 2009)Scientists: New dinosaur species found in South AfricaNPR. Australian paleontologist Adam Yates and his team's discovery of the genus was published online before print in ''Proceedings of the Royal Society B'' in November 2009, and was scheduled to appear in the March 20 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Berberosaurus
''Berberosaurus'' (meaning " Berber lizard", in reference to the Berbers of Morocco) is a genus of neotheropod dinosaur, possibly a ceratosaur, from the Early Toarcian-age (Lower Jurassic) Azilal Formation found in the High Atlas of Toundoute, Ouarzazate, Morocco. The type species of the genus ''Berberosaurus'' is ''B. liassicus'', in reference to the Lias epoch. ''Berberosaurus'' might be the oldest known ceratosaur, and is based on partial postcranial remains. Classification Ronan Allain and colleagues, who described ''Berberosaurus'', performed a phylogenetic analysis and found their new genus to be the most basal known abelisauroid, more derived than ''Elaphrosaurus'', ''Ceratosaurus'', and ''Spinostropheus'', but less so than ''Xenotarsosaurus'' and abelisaurians. ''Berberosaurus'' is distinguished from other theropods by anatomical details found in its vertebrae, metacarpals, and hindlimb bones. Its assignment as an abelisauroid pushes back the record of this group and sho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sauropoda
Sauropoda (), whose members are known as sauropods (; from '' sauro-'' + '' -pod'', 'lizard-footed'), is a clade of saurischian ('lizard-hipped') dinosaurs. Sauropods had very long necks, long tails, small heads (relative to the rest of their body), and four thick, pillar-like legs. They are notable for the enormous sizes attained by some species, and the group includes the largest animals to have ever lived on land. Well-known genera include ''Brachiosaurus'', ''Diplodocus'', ''Apatosaurus'' and ''Brontosaurus''. The oldest known unequivocal sauropod dinosaurs are known from the Early Jurassic. ''Isanosaurus'' and ''Antetonitrus'' were originally described as Triassic sauropods, but their age, and in the case of ''Antetonitrus'' also its sauropod status, were subsequently questioned. Sauropod-like sauropodomorph tracks from the Fleming Fjord Formation (Greenland) might, however, indicate the occurrence of the group in the Late Triassic. By the Late Jurassic (150 million yea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sauropod
Sauropoda (), whose members are known as sauropods (; from '' sauro-'' + '' -pod'', 'lizard-footed'), is a clade of saurischian ('lizard-hipped') dinosaurs. Sauropods had very long necks, long tails, small heads (relative to the rest of their body), and four thick, pillar-like legs. They are notable for the enormous sizes attained by some species, and the group includes the largest animals to have ever lived on land. Well-known genera include ''Brachiosaurus'', ''Diplodocus'', ''Apatosaurus'' and ''Brontosaurus''. The oldest known unequivocal sauropod dinosaurs are known from the Early Jurassic. ''Isanosaurus'' and ''Antetonitrus'' were originally described as Triassic sauropods, but their age, and in the case of ''Antetonitrus'' also its sauropod status, were subsequently questioned. Sauropod-like sauropodomorph tracks from the Fleming Fjord Formation (Greenland) might, however, indicate the occurrence of the group in the Late Triassic. By the Late Jurassic (150 million yea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vulcanodontidae
The Early Jurassic sauropod dinosaurs ''Zizhongosaurus'', ''Barapasaurus'', ''Tazoudasaurus'', and ''Vulcanodon'' may form a natural group of basal sauropods called the Vulcanodontidae. Basal vulcanodonts include some of the earliest known examples of sauropods. The family-level name Vulcanodontidae was erected by M.R. Cooper in 1984. In 1995 Hunt ''et al.'' published the opinion that the family is synonymous with the Barapasauridae. One of the key morphological features specific to the family is an unusually narrow sacrum The sacrum (plural: ''sacra'' or ''sacrums''), in human anatomy, is a large, triangular bone at the base of the spine that forms by the fusing of the sacral vertebrae (S1S5) between ages 18 and 30. The sacrum situates at the upper, back part .... References Cooper, M.R. (1984). "A reassessment of ''Vulcanodon karibaensis'' Raath (Dinosauria: Saurischia) and the origin of the Sauropoda". ''Palaeontologia Africana'' 25: 203–231. A. P. Hunt, M. G. Lockl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
High Atlas
High Atlas, also called the Grand Atlas ( ar, الأطلس الكبير, Al-Aṭlas al-Kabīr; french: Haut Atlas; shi, ⴰⴷⵔⴰⵔ ⵏ ⴷⵔⵏ ''Adrar n Dern''), is a mountain range in central Morocco, North Africa, the highest part of the Atlas Mountains. The High Atlas rises in the west at the Atlantic Ocean and stretches in an eastern direction to the Moroccan-Algerian border. At the Atlantic and to the southwest the range drops abruptly and makes an impressive transition to the coast and the Anti-Atlas range. To the north, in the direction of Marrakech, the range descends less abruptly. The range includes Jbel Toubkal, which at is the highest in the range and lies in Toubkal National Park. The range serves as a weather system barrier in Morocco running east–west and separating the Sahara from the Mediterranean and continental zones to the north and west. In the higher elevations of the massif, snow falls regularly, allowing winter sports. Snow lasts well into late ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mussaurus
''Mussaurus'' (meaning " mouse lizard") is a genus of herbivorous sauropodomorph dinosaur that lived in southern Argentina during the Early Jurassic, with a maximum age of 192.78 ± 0.14 Ma. It receives its name from the small size of the skeletons of juvenile and infant individuals, which were once the only known specimens of the genus. However, since ''Mussaurus'' is now known from adult specimens, the name is something of a misnomer; adults possibly reached in length and weighed more than . ''Mussaurus'' possesses anatomical features suggesting a close, possibly transitional evolutionary relationship with true sauropods. Discovery Infant and juvenile fossils of ''Mussaurus'' were first discovered by an expedition led by Jose Bonaparte during the 1970s to the Laguna Colorada Formation."Mussaurus." In: Dodson, Peter & Britt, Brooks & Carpenter, Kenneth & Forster, Catherine A. & Gillette, David D. & Norell, Mark A. & Olshevsky, George & Parrish, J. Michael & Weishampel, Da ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leonerasaurus
''Leonerasaurus'' is a basal genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur. Currently, there is only one species known, named ''L. taquetrensis'' by Diego Pol, Alberto Garrido and Ignacio A. Cerda in 2011. The fossil, an incomplete subadult individual, was found in the Las Leoneras Formation in Argentina. This formation is probably Early Jurassic in age. ''Leonerasaurus'' was a small non- sauropod sauropodomorph, showing an unusual combination of basal and derived characters. This indicates that the evolution of early sauropodomorphs witnessed a great degree of convergent evolution. Discovery The fossils assigned to ''Leonerasaurus'' were found near Cañadón Las Leoneras (an affluent of the left margin of the Chubut river), southeast of Sierra de Taquetrén, Chubut Province, Central Patagonia, Argentina. This formation is probably early Jurassic in age, interpreted as Pliensbachian to Toarcian or late Sinemurian to Toarcian. The volcanic facies of the overlying Lonco Trapial Formatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sauropodiformes
Massopoda is a clade of sauropodomorph dinosaurs which lived during the Late Triassic to Late Cretaceous epochs. It was named by paleontologist Adam M. Yates of the University of the Witwatersrand in 2007. Massopoda is a stem-based taxon, defined as all animals more closely related to ''Saltasaurus loricatus'' than to ''Plateosaurus engelhardti''. The name Massopoda, ; , is also contraction of Massospondylidae and Sauropoda, two disparate taxa in the clade. Classification Yates assigned the Massopoda to Plateosauria. Within the clade, he assigned the families Massospondylidae (which includes the relatively well-known dinosaur ''Massospondylus'') and Riojasauridae (which includes ''Riojasaurus'') as well as the Sauropoda. The following is a cladogram A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
