The

Early Jurassic The Early Jurassic Epoch (geology), Epoch (in chronostratigraphy corresponding to the Lower Jurassic series (stratigraphy), Series) is the earliest of three epochs of the Jurassic Period. The Early Jurassic starts immediately after the Triassic-J ...

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 bo ...

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 ...

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Zizhongosaurus ''Zizhongosaurus'' (meaning "Zizhong lizard") is a genus of basal herbivorous sauropod dinosaur which lived in the Early Jurassic (Toarcian) Period of China. It was a large-bodied herbivore characterized by a long neck. Discovery and naming Th ...

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Barapasaurus ''Barapasaurus'' ( ) is a genus of basal sauropod dinosaur from Early Jurassic rocks of India. The only species is ''B. tagorei''. ''Barapasaurus'' comes from the lower part of the Kota Formation, that dates back to the Sinemurian and Pliensbac ...

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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 s ...

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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 sau ...

'' 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. Lockley, S. G. Lucas and C. A. Meyer (1995). "The global sauropod fossil record". ''Gaia'' 10: 261-279. {{Taxonbar, from=Q134937 Gravisauria Toarcian first appearances Early Jurassic extinctions Prehistoric dinosaur families