''Pantydraco'' (where "panty-" is short for Pant-y-ffynnon, signifying ''hollow of the spring/well'' in

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

, referring to the quarry at

Bonvilston Bonvilston ( cy, Tresimwn) is a village in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. The village is situated on the A48 about four miles east of Cowbridge and near the Welsh capital city of Cardiff. The population in 2011 was 392. History It is named af ...

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

where it was found) was a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of basal

sauropodomorph Sauropodomorpha ( ; from Greek, meaning "lizard-footed forms") is an extinct clade of long-necked, herbivorous, saurischian dinosaurs that includes the sauropods and their ancestral relatives. Sauropods generally grew to very large sizes, had lon ...

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

from the

Late Triassic The Late Triassic is the third and final epoch (geology), epoch of the Triassic geologic time scale, Period in the geologic time scale, spanning the time between annum, Ma and Ma (million years ago). It is preceded by the Middle Triassic Epoch ...

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

(

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

). It is based on a partial juvenile skeleton once thought to belong to ''

Thecodontosaurus ''Thecodontosaurus'' ("socket-tooth lizard") is a genus of herbivorous basal sauropodomorph dinosaur that lived during the late Triassic period (Rhaetian age). Its remains are known mostly from Triassic "fissure fillings" in South England. ''The ...

''. Only one valid species of ''Pantydraco'' is recognised: ''P. caducus.''

Description

''Pantydraco'' was of moderate build. The creature had a long tail that tapered towards the end and was broad at the hip joint. It had a pointed head with a strong jaw. The forelimbs of the dinosaur were developed for grasping while the hindlimbs were adapted for supporting the creature's body weight. The center of mass lies near the pelvic bone, meaning the creature was bipedal. The forelimbs were shorter than the hindlimbs. The hands had three movable digits while the fourth digit was embedded. It had well-developed claws. The juvenile fossils’ estimated height is from about . Adults are believed to have been about long. The estimated weight for an average adult of this species of dinosaurs is about . Thus, the creature was fairly gracile. The teeth were well developed.

Discovery and naming

In 2003, Adam Yates named the new species ''Thecodontosaurus caducus'' for BMNH P 24, a skull, a partial jawbone, and vertebrae of the cervix, an incomplete right pelvic bone, and partial forelimbs of an immature sauropodomorph that had been discovered in 1952 by Kermack and Robinson. This material had been known in the scientific literature since 1983, and had been used to represent the genus ''Thecodontosaurus''.Warrener, D. (1983) "An Archisaurian Fauna from a Welsh Locality". (''Unpublished Ph. D. thesis in Zoology, University of London, London'': 384 p). However, changed understanding of the relationships and characteristics of basal sauropodomorphs (also known as

prosauropod Sauropodomorpha ( ; from Greek, meaning "lizard-footed forms") is an extinct clade of long-necked, herbivorous, saurischian dinosaurs that includes the sauropods and their ancestral relatives. Sauropods generally grew to very large sizes, had lon ...

s) has led Peter Galton, Yates, and D. Kermack to give ''T. caducus'' its own genus. The genus was named after the Pant-y-ffynnon quarry where it was discovered. ''Pantydraco'' takes its name from the "pant" of

Pant-y-ffynnon quarry Pant-y-Ffynnon Quarry is a stone quarry in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, around 3 kilometers east of Cowbridge. It contains fissure fill deposits dating to the Late Triassic ( Rhaetian), hosted within karsts of Carboniferous aged limestone, pri ...

, meaning valley of the spring, and "draco" (a dragon or mythical dragon-like creature in Latin). This is because the quarry is located near Cowbridge in the Vale of Glamorgan, in Southern Wales, at the base of a mountain between two rivers. As 'y' means '(of) the' in Welsh, the genus name is somewhat grammatically incorrect. The species epithet, ''caducus'', means "fallen" in Latin, referring to the assumption that it fell into a fissure fill (quarry) and died there.

Paleobiology

''Pantydraco'' is considered to have most probably been omnivorous, being at the transition from carnivory to herbivory in the sauropodomorph lineage. It is probable that ''Pantydraco'' would have walked

bipedally Bipedalism is a form of terrestrial locomotion where an organism moves by means of its two rear limbs or legs. An animal or machine that usually moves in a bipedal manner is known as a biped , meaning 'two feet' (from Latin ''bis'' 'double' a ...

Paleoecology

The Pant-y-ffynnon region was a characteristic wetland during the Triassic. The area consists of alluvial silts deposited by the rivers and sand and limestone. The climate ranges from arid to semi-humid.

References

External links

Publisher's website
{{Taxonbar, from=Q749100 Sauropodomorphs Late Triassic dinosaurs of Europe Fossil taxa described in 2007 Taxa named by Peter Galton Fossils of Wales Paleontology in Wales