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Massospondylus
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Massospondylus was a herbivore (plant-eater) that lived
in Southern Africa and North America,
about 208 to 204 million years ago, during the early
Jurassic period.
Massospondylus was around
13 feet (4 meters) long, and its name, chosen by
Sir Richard Owen
(who also coined the term of "dinosaur")
means "massive vertebra" or "elongated vertebra"
(referring to the large bones in the creature's neck).
Massospondylus had a tiny head on the end of a very long and flexible
neck. Its hands had five fingers, and could be used for both walking
and grasping, and its thumbs were each equipped with a large claw.
Polished stones ("gastroliths") have been found inside Massospondylus skeletons. Just like
many birds do, Massospondylus is believed to have swallowed stones to help
it grind up tough food. When the stones were worn smooth and of no
further use, Massospondylus would have regurgitated the stones, and swallowed
new rough rocks to replace them.
Six Massospondylus eggs were found in
South Africa
in the 1970s. When the eggs were finally opened and the
fossilized
extracted after a 30 year wait, the eggs were found to contain
near-hatchlings with no teeth. The lack of teeth has led some scientists
to conclude that some degree of after-birth care may have been necessary,
because the hatchlings would probably have been unable to feed themselves.
Massospondylus was a herbivore (plant-eater) that lived from 208 to 204 million years ago
Related Information & Resources
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Massospondylus Facts
Here is a summary of some of the key facts about Massospondylus:
- Massospondylus was a genus of dinosaur.
- "Massospondylus" means "longer vertebra". This name was chosen by Sir Richard Owen in 1854.
- Massospondylus was a member of the Saurischia ("lizard-hipped") order of dinosaurs. What this means, is that although Massospondylus was not closely related to lizards, it did have similarly shaped pelvic bones.
- Massospondylus was a Prosauropod - a member of a group of related early herbivorous (plant-eating) dinosaurs which had long necks, small heads, shorter forelimbs than hind limbs, and a thumb claw.
- Massospondylus lived between about 208 million years ago and 204 million years ago, during the late Jurassic period.
- Massospondylus lived in North America and Southern Africa.
- Massospondylus was a herbivore (plant-eater).
- Massospondylus is thought to have swallowed stones which would have been used to help grind up tough plant material (some modern birds do the same thing). Fossils of these stones ("gastroliths") have been found in the same rocks as Massospondylus.
- Massospondylus was about 13 feet (4 meters) long.
Massospondylus Books
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| Massospondylus: Genus, Prosauropoda, Dinosaur, Jurassic, Geologic time scale, Hettangian, Pliensbachian, Stage (stratigraphy), Annum, Richard Owen, Kayenta Formation, Type species |
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High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Massospondylus is a genus of prosauropod dinosaur from the early Jurassic Period (Hettangian to Pliensbachian ages, ca. 200?183 million years ago). It was described by Sir Richard Owen in 1854 from remains found in South Africa, and is thus one of the first dinosaurs to have been named. Fossils have since been found at other locations in South Africa, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe. Further material from Arizona's Kayenta Formation, India, and Argentina has been assigned to this genus, but may not belong to Massospondylus. The type, and only universally recognized, species, is M. carinatus, although six other species have been named during the past 150 years. Prosauropod systematics have undergone numerous revisions during the last several years, and many scientists disagree where exactly Massospondylus lies on the dinosaur evolutionary tree |
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Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Plateosaurus, Massospondylus, Aardonyx, Prosauropoda, Unaysaurus, Lufengosaurus, Yunnanosaurus, Riojasaurus, Gyposaurus, Massospondylidae, Mussaurus, Eucnemesaurus, Plateosauravus, Massopoda, Riojasauridae, Jingshanosaurus, Euskelosaurus, Plateosauria, Ruehleia, Thotobolosaurus, Anchisauria, Plateosauridae, Yimenosaurus, Lessemsaurus, Aetonyx, Coloradisaurus, Archaeodontosaurus, Fulengia, Gongxianosaurus. Excerpt: Aardonyx Fossil range: Early Jurassic , 195 Ma Pre O S D C P T J K Pg N Aardonyx (Afrikaans aard , "earth" + Greek onux , "nail, claw") is a genus of prosauropod dinosaur . It is known from the type species Aardonyx celestae found from the Lower Jurassic Elliot Formation of South Africa . A. celestae was named after Celeste Yates, who prepared much of the first known fossil material of the species. It has arm features that are intermediate between prosauropods and sauropods . Based on the structure of the hind limbs and pelvic girdle of Aardonyx , the dinosaur normally moved bipedally but could drop to quadrupedal movement similar to Iguanodon . It shares some attributes with giant quadrupedal sauropods like Apatosaurus . Australian paleontologist Adam Yates and his team's discovery of the genus was published online before print in Proceedings of the Royal Society B in November 2009, and is scheduled to appear in the March 2010 issue. British paleontologist Paul Barrett of the Natural History Museum , London, who was not involved in the research, commented that the discovery of Aardonyx "helps to fill a marked gap in our knowledge of sauropod evolution, showing how a primarily two-legged animal could start to acquire the specific features necessary for a life spent on all-fours". According to Dr. Matthew Bonnan , a co-author on the study, "We already knew that the ear... |
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Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Massospondylus, Spinosaurus, Barosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Ceratosaurus, Kentrosaurus, Aardonyx, List of African Dinosaurs, Giraffatitan, Carcharodontosaurus, Abrictosaurus, Sigilmassasaurus, Ouranosaurus, Dryosaurus, Nigersaurus, Cetiosaurus, Megapnosaurus, Afrovenator, Antetonitrus, Elrhazosaurus, Suchomimus, Deltadromeus, Berberosaurus, Paralititan, Eocursor, Kangnasaurus, Heterodontosaurus, Lesothosaurus, Gyposaurus, Jobaria, Bahariasaurus, Elaphrosaurus, Eucnemesaurus, Rugops, Lurdusaurus, Melanorosaurus, Dicraeosaurus, Algoasaurus, Plateosauravus, Kryptops, Kemkemia, Aegyptosaurus, Atlasaurus, Australodocus, Malawisaurus, Stormbergia, Tazoudasaurus, Tornieria, Tendaguria, Eocarcharia, Cristatusaurus, Euskelosaurus, Dracovenator, Fabrosaurus, Rebbachisaurus, Nqwebasaurus, Spinophorosaurus, Vulcanodon, Lycorhinus, Thotobolosaurus, Chebsaurus, Spinostropheus, Lanasaurus, Aetonyx, Paranthodon, Janenschia, Karongasaurus, Blikanasaurus, Inosaurus, Dinosaur Deposits of Niger, Likhoelesaurus, Geranosaurus. Excerpt: Aardonyx Fossil range: Early Jurassic , 195 Ma Pre O S D C P T J K Pg N Aardonyx (Afrikaans aard , "earth" + Greek onux , "nail, claw") is a genus of prosauropod dinosaur . It is known from the type species Aardonyx celestae found from the Lower Jurassic Elliot Formation of South Africa . A. celestae was named after Celeste Yates, who prepared much of the first known fossil material of the species. It has arm features that are intermediate between prosauropods and sauropods . Based on the structure of the hind limbs and pelvic girdle of Aardonyx , the dinosaur normally moved bipedally but could drop to quadrupedal movement similar to Iguanodon . It shares some attributes with giant quadrupedal sauropods like Apatosaurus . Australian paleontologist Adam Yates and his team'... |
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Les achats comprennent une adhésion à l'essai gratuite au club de livres de l'éditeur, dans lequel vous pouvez choisir parmi plus d'un million d'ouvrages, sans frais. Le livre consiste d'articles Wikipedia sur : Lufengosaurus, Massospondylidae, Ammosaurus, Massospondylus, Platéosaure, Aliwalia, Anchisaurus, Melanorosauridae, Euskélosaure, Aetonyx, Azendohsaurus, Anchisauridae, Plateosauridae, Thecodontosauridae, Yunnanosauridae. Non illustré. Mises à jour gratuites en ligne. Extrait : Lufengosaurus (en chinois , en grec « lézard du Lufeng »), était un dinosaure prosauropode qui vécut durant les Jurassiques inférieur et moyen, dans l'actuel sud-ouest de la Chine. D'une longueur d'environ 6 m, c'est le premier squelette de dinosaure complet reconstitué en Chine ; un timbre commémoratif fut émis en 1958 pour célébrer l'événement. Reconstitution d'un LufengosaurusNommé par C.C. Young en 1941, des restes de l'espèce type, L. huenei, furent découverts dans la Formation du Lufeng inférieur, dans la province du Yunnan en Chine. Young nomma une seconde espèce quelques années plus tard. Le L. magnus était, ainsi que son nom l'indique, une créature nettement plus imposante (d'environ un tiers) que le L. huenei. On peut encore retrouver le lufengosaurus dans les sédiments bajociens de Chine, ce qui en fait l'un des rares prosauropodes qui aient survécu jusqu'au Jurassique moyen. En 1981, Cooper suggéra que le Lufengosaurus et le Yunnanosaurus étaient des espèces du genre sud-africain Massospondylus. Néanmoins, une nouvelle analyse récemment effectuée du crâne du Lufengosaurus huenei a prouvé que c'est un genre à part, distinct aussi bien du Massospondylus que du Yunnanosaurus. Comme tous les prosauropodes, le Lufengosaurus possédait des membres inférieurs nettement plus longs que les membres supérieurs, et était probablement bipède de temps à autre, notamment en recherchant sa nourriture. C'était un herbivore, bien qu'il eût des dents et...http://booksllc.net/?l=fr |
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Kapitel: Plateosaurus, Lufengosaurus, Massospondylus, Riojasaurus, Thecodontosaurus, Anchisaurus, Unaysaurus, Lessemsaurus, Mussaurus, Ammosaurus, Eucnemesaurus. Aus Wikipedia. Nicht dargestellt. Auszug: Plateosaurus (meaning 'flat lizard') is a genus of plateosaurid prosauropod dinosaur that lived during the Late Triassic period, around 216 to 199 million years ago in what is now Central and Northern Europe. The latest research recognizes two species: the type species P. engelhardti from the late Norian and Rhaetian, and the slightly earlier P. gracilis from the lower Norian, although others have been assigned in the past, and there is no broad consensus on the species taxonomy of plateosaurid dinosaurs. Similarly, there are a plethora of synonyms at the genus level. Discovered in 1834 by Johann Friedrich Engelhardt and described three years later by Hermann von Meyer, Plateosaurus was the fifth dinosaur genus to be named that today is still considered valid. However, it was not one of the three genera originally used by Richard Owen in 1842 to define Dinosauria, because at the time it was poorly known and difficult to identify as a dinosaur. Plateosaurus is now among the best known dinosaurs, with over 100 skeletons found, some of them nearly complete. Plateosaurus was a bipedal herbivore with a small skull on a long, mobile neck, sharp but plump plant-crushing teeth, powerful hind limbs, and a grasping hand with a large thumb claw possibly used for defence and feeding. Unusually for a dinosaurs, Plateosaurus showed strong developmental plasticity: fully grown individuals were between 4.8 and 10 metres (16 and 33 ft) long and weighed between 600 to 4,000 kilograms (1,300 to 8,800 lb). Commonly, the animals lived for 10 to 25 years. Despite the great quantity and excellent quality of the fossil material, Plateosaurus was for a long time one of the most misunderstood dinosaurs. Some researchers proposed theories that conflicte...http://booksllc.net/?l=de |
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Kapitel: Plateosaurus, Lufengosaurus, Massospondylus, Riojasaurus, Thecodontosaurus, Anchisaurus, Unaysaurus, Lessemsaurus, Mussaurus, Ammosaurus, Eucnemesaurus. Aus Wikipedia. Nicht dargestellt. Auszug: Plateosaurus (meaning 'flat lizard') is a genus of plateosaurid prosauropod dinosaur that lived during the Late Triassic period, around 216 to 199 million years ago in what is now Central and Northern Europe. The latest research recognizes two species: the type species P. engelhardti from the late Norian and Rhaetian, and the slightly earlier P. gracilis from the lower Norian, although others have been assigned in the past, and there is no broad consensus on the species taxonomy of plateosaurid dinosaurs. Similarly, there are a plethora of synonyms at the genus level. Discovered in 1834 by Johann Friedrich Engelhardt and described three years later by Hermann von Meyer, Plateosaurus was the fifth dinosaur genus to be named that today is still considered valid. However, it was not one of the three genera originally used by Richard Owen in 1842 to define Dinosauria, because at the time it was poorly known and difficult to identify as a dinosaur. Plateosaurus is now among the best known dinosaurs, with over 100 skeletons found, some of them nearly complete. Plateosaurus was a bipedal herbivore with a small skull on a long, mobile neck, sharp but plump plant-crushing teeth, powerful hind limbs, and a grasping hand with a large thumb claw possibly used for defence and feeding. Unusually for a dinosaurs, Plateosaurus showed strong developmental plasticity: fully grown individuals were between 4.8 and 10 metres (16 and 33 ft) long and weighed between 600 to 4,000 kilograms (1,300 to 8,800 lb). Commonly, the animals lived for 10 to 25 years. Despite the great quantity and excellent quality of the fossil material, Plateosaurus was for a long time one of the most misunderstood dinosaurs. Some researchers proposed theories that conflicte...http://booksllc.net/?l=de |
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By Michael R Cooper
National Museums and Monuments
Unknown Binding
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