Melanorosaurus readi
"Black Mountain Lizard"
You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Melanorosaurus 8 m (26.2 ft) long
as long as 5 people standing fingertip to fingertip
- Length
- 8 m (26.2 ft)
- Period
- Late Triassic (216.5–201 Mya)
- Place
- Africa · South Africa
- Food
- Omnivore
- Clade
- Dinosauria The clade containing all dinosaurs, terrestrial archosaurs with upright limbs.
Melanorosaurus (meaning “Black Mountain Lizard”, from the Greek melas/μέλας, “black”, oros/ὄρος, “mountain” + sauros/σαῦρος, “lizard”) is a genus of basal sauropodomorph dinosaur that lived during the Late Triassic period. An omnivore from South Africa, it had a large body and sturdy limbs, suggesting it moved quadrupedally. Its limb bones were massive and heavy like the limb bones of true sauropods.
What we know
- Named by Haughton, 1924.
- Body length estimated at about 8 m.
- Fossils found in Africa and South Africa.
What we guess
The reconstruction notes for Melanorosaurus — soft tissue, color, behavior — haven't been written up yet. Only the recorded basics above are filled in so far.