| Description | Melanorosaurus (meaning "Black Mountain Lizard", from the Greek melas/μέλας, "black", oros/ὄρος, "mountain" + sauros/σαῦρος, "lizard") is a genus of basal sauropodomorph dinosaur that lived during the Late Triassic period. A herbivore from South Africa, it had a large body and sturdy limbs, suggesting it moved about on all fours. Its limb bones were massive and weighty, like sauropod limb bones.
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| Source Data | |
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| Rank | genus |
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| Taxonomy (GBIF) | Life : Animalia : Chordata : Reptilia : Dinosauria : Melanorosaurus |
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| Taxonomy (PBDB) | Life : Animalia : Chordata : Saurischia : Melanorosaurus |
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| Taxonomic Status (GBIF) | accepted |
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Classification
(PBDB,GBIF) | |
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| Scientific Name | Melanorosaurus Haughton, 1924 |
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| Name Published In | Ann. S. Afric. Mus., 12 |
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| Opinions (PBDB) | | Name | Rank | Opinion | Evidence | Author |
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| Melanorosaurus | genus | belongs to Plateosauridae | stated without evidence | Haughton, 1924 | | Melanorosaurus | genus | belongs to Plateosauridae | stated with evidence | Nopcsa, 1928 | | Melanorosaurus | genus | belongs to Saurischia | stated without evidence | Huene, 1940 | | Melanorosaurus | genus | belongs to Melanorosauridae | stated without evidence | Huene, 1941 | | Melanorosaurus | genus | belongs to Melanorosauridae | implied | Romer, 1956 | | Melanorosaurus | genus | belongs to Melanorosauridae | stated with evidence | Ellenberger, 1970 | | Melanorosaurus | genus | belongs to Melanorosauridae | stated without evidence | Steel, 1970 | | Melanorosaurus | genus | subjective synonym of Euskelosaurus | stated without evidence | Heerden, 1979 | | Melanorosaurus | genus | belongs to Melanorosauridae | stated without evidence | Olsen and Galton, 1984 | | Melanorosaurus | genus | belongs to Melanorosauridae | implied | Carroll, 1988 | | Melanorosaurus | genus | belongs to Sauropodomorpha | stated with evidence | Benton, 1990 | | Melanorosaurus | genus | belongs to Melanorosauridae | stated without evidence | Gauffre, 1993 | | Melanorosaurus | genus | belongs to Melanorosauridae | stated with evidence | Galton and Upchurch, 2004 | | Melanorosaurus | genus | belongs to Melanorosauridae | stated without evidence | Knoll, 2004 | | Melanorosaurus | genus | belongs to Sauropoda | stated with evidence | Upchurch et al., 2007 | | Melanorosaurus | genus | belongs to Sauropodomorpha | stated without evidence | Smith and Pol, 2007 | | Melanorosaurus | genus | belongs to Massopoda | stated with evidence | Novas et al., 2011 | | Melanorosaurus | genus | belongs to Sauropoda | stated with evidence | Apaldetti et al., 2011 | | Melanorosaurus | genus | belongs to Sauropodiformes | stated with evidence | Otero and Pol, 2013 |
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| Status (PBDB) | extinct |
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| Taxon Size (PBDB) | 2 |
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| First Recorded Appearance | 228 - 209 Ma
Late/Upper Triassic |
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| Last Recorded Appearance | 201 - 191 Ma
Early Jurassic |
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| Environment | terrestrial (based on Diapsida) |
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| Motility | actively mobile (based on Osteichthyes) |
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| Taphonomy | phosphatic (based on Vertebrata) |
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| Primary Reference (PBDB) | S. H. Haughton. 1924. The fauna and stratigraphy of the Stormberg Series. Annals of the South African Museum 12:323-497 |
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| Wikipedia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanorosaurus |
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| Haughton S. H. (1924) The fauna and stratigraphy of the Stormberg Series, Annals of the South African Museum 12, 323-497 |
| Nopcsa B. F. (1928) The genera of reptiles, Palaeobiologica 1, 163-188 |
| Huene F. v. (1941) Eine Fährtenplatte aus dem Stubensandstein des mittleren Keuper der Tübinger Gegend [A footprint slab from the Stubensandstein of the middle Keuper of the Tübingen area], Zentralblatt für Mineralogie, Geologie und Paläontologie, Abteilung B: Geologie und Paläontologie 1941 5, 139-141 |
| Haughton S. H., Brink A. S. (1954) A bibliographical list of Reptilia from the Karroo Beds of South Africa, Palaeontologia Africana 2, 1-187 |
| Romer A. S. (1956) , Osteology of the Reptiles, University of Chicago Press, 1-772 |
| Romer A. S. (1966) , Vertebrate Paleontology, 3rd edition, 1-468 |
| Ellenberger P. (1970) Les niveaux paléontologiques de première apparition des mammifères primoridaux en Afrique du Sud et leur ichnologie. Establissement de zones stratigraphiques detaillees dans le Stormberg du Lesotho (Afrique du Sud) (Trias Supérieur à Jurassique) [The paleontological levels of the first appearance of primordial mammals in southern Africa and their ichnology. Establishment of detailed stratigraphic zones in the Stormberg of Lesotho (southern Africa) (Upper Triassic to Jurassic)., In: S. H. Haughton (ed.), Second Symposium on Gondwana Stratigraphy and Paleontology, International Union of Geological Sciences. Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Pretoria, 343-370 |
| Steel R. (1970) Part 14. Saurischia, Handbuch der Paläoherpetologie/Encyclopedia of Paleoherpetology. Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart, 1-87 |
| Olsen P. E., Galton P. M. (1984) A review of the reptile and amphibian assemblages from the Stormberg of southern Africa, with special emphasis on the footprints and the age of the Stormberg, Palaeontologia Africana 25, 87-110 |
| Galton P. M. (1985) Notes on the Melanorosauridae, a family of large prosauropod dinosaurs (Saurischia: Sauropodomorpha), Géobios 18 5, 671-676 |
| Carroll R. L. (1988) , Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution, 1-698 |
| Benton M. J. (1990) Origin and interrelationships of dinosaurs, The Dinosauria, D. B. Weishampel, P. Dodson, & H. Osmólska (editors), University of California Press, Berkeley, 11-30 |
| Gauffre F.-X. (1993) The most recent Melanorosauridae (Saurischia, Prosauropoda), Lower Jurassic of Lesotho, with remarks on the prosauropod phylogeny, Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie Monatshefte 1993 11, 648-654 |
| Heerden J. v., Galton P. M. (1997) The affinities of Melanorosaurus – a Late Triassic prosauropod dinosaur from South Africa, Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie Monatshefte 1997 1, 39-55 |
| Galton P. M., Upchurch P. (2004) Prosauropoda, The Dinosauria (second edition). University of California Press, Berkeley, 232-258 |
| Knoll F. (2004) Review of the tetrapod fauna of the "Lower Stormberg Group" of the main Karoo Basin (southern Africa): implication for the age of the Lower Elliot Formation, Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 175 1, 73-83 |
| Galton P. M., Van Heerden J., et al (2005) Postcranial anatomy of referred specimens of the sauropodomorph dinosaur Melanorosaurus from the Upper Triassic of South Africa, Thunder-Lizards: The Sauropodomorph Dinosaurs. Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 1-37 |
| Knoll F. (2005) The tetrapod fauna of the Upper Elliot and Clarens formations in the main Karoo Basin (South Africa and Lesotho), Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 176 1, 81-91 |
| Smith N. D., Pol D. (2007) Anatomy of a basal sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Early Jurassic Hanson Formation of Antarctica, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 52 4, 657-674 |
| Upchurch P., Barrett P. M., et al (2007) A phylogenetic analysis of basal sauropodomorph relationships: implications for the origin of sauropod dinosaurs, Evolution and Palaeobiology of Early Sauropodomorph Dinosaurs, Special Papers in Palaeontology 77, 57-90 |
| Yates A. M. (2007) The first complete skull of the Triassic dinosaur Melanorosaurus Haughton (Sauropodomorpha: Anchisauria), Special Papers in Palaeontology 77, 9-55 |
| Apaldetti C., Martinez R. N., et al (2011) A new basal sauropodomorph (Dinosauria: Saurischia) from Quebrada del Barro Formation (Marayes-El Carrizal Basin), Northwestern Argentina, PLoS ONE 6 11, e26964:1-19 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0026964 |
| Novas F. E., Ezcurra M. D., et al (2011) New dinosaur species from the Upper Triassic Upper Maleri and Lower Dharmaram formations of Central India, Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 101, 333-349 doi:10.1017/S1755691011020093 |
| Otero A., Pol D. (2013) Postcranial anatomy and phylogenetic relationships of Mussaurus patagonicus (Dinosauria, Sauropodomorpha), Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 33 5, 1138-1168 |
| McPhee B. W., Choiniere J. N., et al (2015) A second species of Eucnemesaurus Van Hoepen, 1920 (Dinosauria, Sauropodomorpha): new information on the diversity and evolution of the sauropodomorph fauna of South Africa's lower Elliot Formation (latest Triassic), Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 35 5, e980504:1-24 doi:10.1080/02724634.2015.980504 |
| Ann. S. Afric. Mus., 12 - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera |
| Nomenclator Zoologicus. A list of the names of genera and subgenera in zoology from the tenth edition of Linnaeus, 1758 to the end of 2004. Digitised by uBio from vols. 1-9 of Neave (ed.), 1939-1996 plus supplementary digital-only volume. http://ubio.org/NomenclatorZoologicus (as at 2006). - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera |
| SN2000: Brands, S. J. (compiler) 1989-2005. Systema Naturae 2000. Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2006 version). Available online at http://sn2000.taxonomy.nl/. - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera |
Melanorosaurus ✝
