Euskelosaurus


Euskelosaurus browni is a semi-bipedal plateosaurid sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Late Triassic of South Africa and Lesotho. Fossils have only been recovered from the lower Elliot Formation in South Africa and Lesotho, and in one locality in Zimbabwe.

History of Discovery

In 1863, Alfred Brown recovered fossil material consisting of limb bones and vertebrae, in the lower Elliot Formation in the southeastern Free State. In 1866, Thomas Henry Huxley first described Euskelosaurus from Brown's fossil material, and named the holotype specimen Euskelosaurus brownii after Brown. Harry Seeley later described Euskelosaurus in 1894, as did Friedrich von Huene in 1902. Since then, other researchers, including Robert Broom, have mentioned Euskelosaurus in their papers.

Description

Euskelosaurus is considered to have been a large, robust member of the sauropodomorph clade. Estimates from the existing fossil material measure this dinosaur at about 10m in length. Its bones are robust and it had a graviportal limb arrangement, a key character trait of basal sauropodomorphs.

Classification

While paleontologists currently consider Euskelosaurus a basal plateosaurid sauropodomorph, many paleontologists consider Euskelosaurus a “waste-basket” taxon. Its phylogenetic relationships are poorly understood and warrant further study.