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Melanorosaurus readi

Reptilia

Taxonomy
Melanorosaurus readi was named by Haughton (1924). Its type specimen is SAM 3449 (lectotype), a set of postcrania, and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Thaba 'Nyama, Herschel (zone A/6), which is in a Norian/Rhaetian terrestrial mudstone/sandstone in the Elliot Formation of South Africa. It is the type species of Melanorosaurus.

Synonymy list
YearName and author
1924Melanorosaurus readi Haughton
1939Melanorosaurus readi Kuhn p. 67
1940Melanorosaurus readi Huene p. 263
1941Melanorosaurus readi Huene p. 141
1954Melanorosaurus readi Haughton and Brink p. 38
1967Melanorosaurus readi Charig p. 712
1970Melanorosaurus readi Ellenberger p. 346
1970Melanorosaurus readi Steel p. 57
1984Melanorosaurus readi Olsen and Galton p. 91
1985Melanorosaurus readi Galton p. 672
1993Melanorosaurus readi Gauffre p. 148
1997Melanorosaurus readi Chinsamy p. 677
1998Melanorosaurus readi Galton and Van Heerden p. 175
2000Melanorosaurus readi Galton p. 269
2002Melanorosaurus readi Harris et al. p. 251
2003Melanorosaurus readi Yates
2004Melanorosaurus readi Galton and Upchurch p. 235
2005Melanorosaurus readi Galton et al. p. 4
2007Melanorosaurus readi Galton p. 518
2007Melanorosaurus readi Smith and Pol p. 665
2007Melanorosaurus readi Upchurch et al. p. 76
2007Melanorosaurus readi Yates p. 12
2009Melanorosaurus readi Barrett p. 1032
2010Melanorosaurus readi Bandyopadhyay et al. p. 536
2010Melanorosaurus readi Langer et al. p. 70
2010Melanorosaurus readi Yates p. 744
2011Melanorosaurus readi Apaldetti et al. p. 4
2015Melanorosaurus readi Martínez et al. p. 386
2016Melanorosaurus readi Peyre de Fabrègues and Allain p. 5
2020Melanorosaurus readi Moro et al.
2020Melanorosaurus readi Peyre de Fabrègues and Allain p. 26
2023Melanorosaurus readi Sciscio et al. p. 3
2024Melanorosaurus readi Barrett and Choiniere p. 4

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RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
—Bilateria
—EubilateriaAx 1987
—Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
—Osteichthyes()
subclassSarcopterygii()
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha(Nelson 2006)
subclassTetrapodomorpha()
—Tetrapoda
—Reptiliomorpha
—Anthracosauria
subclassAmphibiosauriaKuhn 1967
—Cotylosauria()
—Amniota
—Sauropsida
classReptilia
subclassEureptilia()
RankNameAuthor
—Romeriida
—Diapsida()
—Archosauromorpha(Huene 1946)
—Crocopoda
—ArchosauriformesGauthier 1986
—Eucrocopoda
—Archosauria()
informalAvemetatarsalia
—Ornithodira
—Dinosauromorpha
—Dinosauriformes
—Dinosauria()
—Saurischia()
—Eusaurischia
—Sauropodomorpha(Huene 1932)
—Massopoda
—Sauropodiformes
genusMelanorosaurus
speciesreadi

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

†Melanorosaurus readi Haughton 1924
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Diagnosis
ReferenceDiagnosis
P. M. Barrett and J. N. Choiniere 2024A sauropodomorph dinosaur characterized by the following autapomorphies: posterior margin of the ulna with a pronounced sigmoidal outline; sigmoidal dorsal margin of the iliac pubic peduncle; ratio of ilium height at the level of the ischiac peduncle to total ilium length >0.67; ilium with straight posterior margin continuous with the ischial peduncle that is steeply angled at 65° to the horizontal; proximal caudal vertebrae that possess dorsoventrally elongate, mediolaterally narrow, ‘heart-shaped’ centra that are at least 1.42 times taller than wide; proximal caudal centra that possess a deeply incised ventral midline groove; proximal caudal centra with foramina on their lateral surfaces.
Measurements
No measurements are available
Composition: phosphaticsubp
Entire body: yesg
Environment: terrestrialsubc
Locomotion: actively mobilec
Created: 2005-08-24 13:33:29
Modified: 2005-08-24 15:33:29
Source: g = genus, subc = subclass, c = class, subp = subphylum
References: Carroll 1988, Hendy et al. 2009, Peczkis 1995

Age range: base of the Norian to the top of the Rhaetian or 227.30000 to 201.40000 Ma

Collections (3 total)


Time interval Ma Country or state Original ID and collection number
Norian - Rhaetian227.3 - 201.4South Africa (Eastern Cape) Melanorosaurus readi (type locality: 36704) Roccosaurus tetrasacralis (36609)
Norian - Rhaetian227.3 - 201.4South Africa (Free State) Prosauropoda indet. (106571)