[D] Massospondylus [Eg] [sG]
Describer
Owen, 1854
Time
Triassic Late Jurassic Early Hettangian Sinemurian Pliensbachian
Classification
Saurischia Sauropodomorpha Prosauropoda Massospondylidae
Diet
Herbivore
Fossilsite
Lesotho Zimbabwe Orange Free State South Africa Namibia US
Typespecies
Massospondylus carinatus
Length
5 meter
Info
Genus - Skull - Eggs
Massospondylus (Owen, 1854) = Aetonyx (Broom, 1911) Aristosaurus (Hoepen, 1920) Dromicosaurus (Hoepen, 1920) Gryponyx (Broom, 1911) Gyposaurus (Broom, 1911))
Massospondylus > Massospondylus carinatus (Owen, 1854) >> Aetonyx palustris (Broom, 1911)) Anchisaurus capensis (Galton, 1976) = Gyposaurus capensis (Broom, 1911) Aristosaurus erectus (Hoepen, 1920) Dromicosaurus gracilis (Hoepen, 1920) Gryponyx africanus (Broom, 1911) Gryponyx taylori (Haughton, 1924) Massospondylus browni (Seeley, 1895) Massospondylus harriesi (Broom, 1911) Massospondylus schwarzi (Haughton, 1924) Thecondontosaurus browni (Huene, 1932) Thecondontosaurus dubius (Haughton, 1924), Thecodontosaurus skirtopodus (Seeley, 1894)
Massospondylus > Massospondylus kaalae (Barrett 2009)
A derived character of this family is the centrally situated and almost vertical dorsal process of the maxilla. The jaw articulation is only slightly below the level of the maxillary tooth row and the coronoid eminence is low (Cooper, 1981).
The Namibian species was dicovered near the top of the Waterberg Platea Park in 1977 by geologists and paleontologists from the Universities of Liverpool, Witwatersrand and Wuerzburg in Germany. It has been accepted that dinosaurs roamed this Palaeo-desert region of Namibia millions of years ago as footprints have been discovered in the sand dunes.