Palaeontologia africana

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ISSN (print): 0078-8554 ISSN (electronic): 2410-4418 For queries regarding content of Palaeontologia africana collections please contact Jonah Choiniere by email : jonah.choiniere@wits.ac.za or Tel : 011 717 6684

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Subject: search.filters.subject.sauropodomorpha

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    A new specimen of the sauropodomorph dinosaur Ignavusaurus rachelis from the Early Jurassic of Lesotho
    (Evolutionary Studies Institute, 2020-12-11) Bodenham, Ewan H; Barrett, Paul M
    The upper Elliot Formation (?Rhaetian–Sinemurian) of South Africa and Lesotho has yielded a rich fauna of non-avian dinosaurs, which has generally been considered to be dominated by the massopodan sauropodomorph Massospondylus carinatus. However, re-evaluation of the abundant sauropodomorph collections from this unit suggests that the species-richness of upper Elliot sites has been underestimated. Here, we describe a series of cervical and dorsal vertebrae collected from Likhoele Mountain, Lesotho, which are referred to the rare upper Elliot sauropodomorph taxon Ignavusaurus rachelis. This material represents only the second-known specimen of this taxon, extending its geographic range, and underscores the value of undertaking detailed re-assessments of neglected historical collections.
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    Skulls of the prosauropod dinosaur Massospondylus carinatus Owen in the collections of the Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research
    (Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, 1990) Gow, Chris E; Kitching, James W; Raath, Michael A
    Description of the skull of Massospondylus (Prosauropoda, Anchisauridae) is largely unnecessary since excellent descriptions now exist of Plateosaurus (Galton 1984, 1985a) which, though larger and of slightly different proportions, is anatomically almost identical. This paper presents comprehensive illustrations of the Massospondylus skulls in the Bernard Price Institute collections and discusses only those aspects of this material in which Massospondylus differs from Plateosaurus, or which further add to our knowledge of the prosauropod skull. It is shown that Attridge et al. ( 1985) give spurious reasons for considering the recently discovered Massospondylus skull from Arizona to differ from the southern African taxon, and that the suggestion of Crompton and Attridge ( 1986) that this animal may have had a horny beak on the tip of the lower jaw is unnecessary and improbable.
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    Morphology and growth of the Massospondylus braincase (Dinosauria Prosauropoda)
    (Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, 1990) Gow, Chris E
    The almost complete disarticulated braincase of a young Massospondylus, and the partial braincase of a very large individual in which the laterosphenoid bones are preserved, are described.