The earliest known sauropod dinosaur and the first steps towards sauropod locomotion

A partial dinosaur skeleton from the Upper Triassic (Norian) sediments of South Africa is described and named Antetonitrus ingenipes. It provides the first informative look at a basal sauropod that was beginning to show adaptations towards graviportal quadrupedalism such as an elongated forelimb, a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inProceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences Vol. 270; no. 1525; pp. 1753 - 1758
Main Authors Yates, Adam M., Kitching, James W.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England The Royal Society 22.08.2003
Subjects
Animals
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs
Dinosaurs - anatomy & histology
Dinosaurs - physiology
Femur
Foot bones
Forelimbs
Fossils
Hand bones
Humerus
Locomotion
Metatarsus
Paleontology
Phylogeny
Quadrupedalism
Sauropod
South Africa
Triassic
Ulna
Vertebrae
South Africa
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Summary:A partial dinosaur skeleton from the Upper Triassic (Norian) sediments of South Africa is described and named Antetonitrus ingenipes. It provides the first informative look at a basal sauropod that was beginning to show adaptations towards graviportal quadrupedalism such as an elongated forelimb, a modified femoral architecture, a shortened metatarsus and a changed distribution of weight across the foot. These adaptations allowed the clade to produce the largest-ever terrestrial animals. However, A. ingenipes lacked specializations of the hand found in more derived sauropods that indicate it retained the ability to grasp. Antetonitrus is older than the recently described Isanosaurus from Thailand and is the oldest known definitive sauropod.
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ISSN:0962-8452
1471-2954
DOI:10.1098/rspb.2003.2417